Introduction

• Main Authors: Løvstrøm, Qivioq Nivi, Kiburo, Kibett Carson, Conde, Q”apaj
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: Institute for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University 2019
• Subjects: Human rights; Indigenous peoples; Indigenous youth; Arctic; Pacific
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.7916/d8-1bnv-z868

This book aims to resolve the lack of information and knowledge about Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous Youth from the first-hand perspective of Indigenous Youth. The information available in the literature, academia, legal writing, film, and pop culture about Indigenous Peoples very often portrays Indigenous Peoples as the noble savages, the fierce savages or as extinct nations. We, Indigenous Peoples, are a dead race in the minds of many in the world. We belong in old black and white movies and history books—relics of a shameful past that many would rather forget. With this book, we ask you to challenge the colonial past, to see past the mere illusionary idea of indigeneity. We also invite you to embrace our truth—the truth is that we are alive, and our roots are strong. This book would behove everyone to read from cover to cover, as it is multi-authored by fourteen Indigenous Youth, two selected from each of the seven Indigenous socio-cultural regions of the world: (1) Africa; (2) Asia; (3) the Arctic; (4) Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation and Central Asia; (5) Latin America and the Caribbean; (6) North America; and (7) the Pacific.