Indigenous Peoples’ Voices and Shaping Cultural Policies

When it comes to discussing world cultures and shaping policies, one group tends to get left out. Indigenous Peoples make up about 5 percent of the global population – numbering some 370 million – and bring significant cultural diversity to societies, yet they are largely missing at the table when it comes to setting cultural policies. All Indigenous peoples have the right to thrive and transmit their cultures and languages to future generations and preserve their human dignity. It isn’t enough for allies to speak on behalf of Indigenous Peoples. They must be directly involved. When we leave Indigenous voices out of cultural policy, we miss the opportunity to support Indigenous ways of life, cultural identities, languages, and the knowledges they contain. Indigenous languages hold irreplaceable environmental knowledge that conserves biodiversity and protects the Earth. Indigenous Peoples and Nations need to be actively involved in discussions meant to shape cultural policies.