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Connecting Communities • Sharing Knowledge • Building a Common Future

May 2009

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Picture 1: Ms. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Chair, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and Evelyn Arce, Executive Director, IFIP, speaking on panel: Actualizing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Key Constituencies and Institutions. Picture 2: On same panel from left to RT, Andrew Miller, Amazon Watch, Ms. Jennifer Preston, Canadian Friends Service Committee, Canada, Ms. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Chair, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and Mr. Victor Menotti, International Forum on Globalization, San Francisco Picture 3: Opening ceremony of UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. PHOTOS: Evelyn Arce and Rose McDonald

The Sharing Network is our monthly email service aimed at providing you with the most recent Indigenous issues around the world. Included in this edition:

• Member Highlight & Member News • IFIP News & In the News • Opportunities • Reports & Articles • Events For Funders • Events For All

Se:kon/Greetings IFIP Friends,

IFIP participated in this year’s UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, a gathering that brings over 2,000 Indigenous representatives from around the world to NYC every year to discuss indigenous issues

IFIP

MEMBERSHIP

YES! I Want to Begin or Renew My Membership

Download Form (PDF or Word)

For all questions call 1-518-358-9500.

OPPORTUNITIES

Join ArtCorps and volunteer your creative talents to strengthen sustainable development in Central America in 2010. Application deadline is June 26, 2009. Through community arts projects, artists educate and inspire people to participate actively in improving the environmental, health, and social conditions in communities in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Every ArtCorps artist works directly with a local non-governmental organization that is an expert in its field. Artists strengthen dialogue between community members and the organization, improve community education and empower local leadership. Click here for more

related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights. See Press Conference Release here. You can find several documents now on their website, here are two fact sheets, one on “Indigenous Peoples and Corporations, for the fact sheet, click here. And Advancing and Implementing the UN Declaration, See fact sheet here. IFIP was also honored to be on two panels, the first one was part of Tribal Link’s Project Access Training Program. Tribal Link’s Project Access supports indigenous peoples’ participation in international meetings and conferences where decisions are being made that affect their rights, cultures and livelihoods and is done in cooperation with the UN Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Trainings are lead by some of the world’s most experienced indigenous rights experts, and are geared toward giving participants practical knowledge and skills that can be used to advance the work of indigenous peoples. IFIP was also on a panel of a “side event” on the Actualization and Implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which was organized by Tebtebba Foundation and International Forum on Globalization. IFIP is co-organizing the Alaska Seminar: Private Philanthropy, Indigenous Capacity, and Environmental Stewardship, RSVP now at the Alaska Conservation Fund website. There is an assortment of images from the conference available that IFIP Member Angela Sevin graciously volunteered to capture and images from EGA- IFIP Reception, photo by Don Usner, courtesy of New Mexico Community Foundation. We are working on a full conference report and transcription of each of the speeches and summaries of each of the sessions, the IFIP Strategic Planning meeting that produced a rich conversation on the future ten years of IFIP and Principles of supporting Natives nationally and internationally that was the direct result of IFIP’s collaboration with Native American in Philanthropy. More info will be placed on our newly designed website soon. Now is the perfect time to join our expanding network of International Funders for Indigenous Peoples. Become a paid member today to take advantage of our unique services, like our newly implemented Members-Only Listserv and Members Forum. Click here for information on how to become a member and please note that the last day for submission of articles for the Spring/Summer newsletter is due June 15th, 2009.

Ske:nen/Peace, Evelyn Arce-White, M.A.T. IFIP Executive Director

MEMBER HIGHLIGHT

information.

HONOR THE EARTH Honor the Earth, in partnership with the Tides Foundation, awards grants solely to organizations that are led and managed by Native peoples. Priority is given to grassroots, community-based organizations and groups with a lack of access to federal and/or tribal funding resources. Honor the Earth does not grant to individuals. Grants range from $1,000 to $5,000. Proposals Due: September 15th For full details click here.

Seventh Generation Fund Please be sure to review Grant Making Guidelines and Program Areas before applying for a grant. General grant application deadline is June 1 & October 1. We accept mini-grant proposals for amounts of $500 or less at any time.

TIDES Foundation

Money Spent well program to ensure family planning and reproductive health

for sub-Saharan Africa. Click here for more info.

MEMBER

NEWS

Ford Foundation Announces New Grantmaking Strategies The Ford Foundation has announced a number of organizational changes and a comprehensive set of new strategies aimed at creating fairness and equity for people around the globe. The changes were determined after a year-long evaluation process spearheaded by Ford's president, Luis A. Ubiñas, during which the foundation gathered input from some two thousand individuals and organizations across the many regions it serves. Click here to read full article, “New Leader Overhauls Ford Foundation”

Join Ecologic Development

Fund for World Environment Day

As the climate changes, so will our lives. How will you combat climate change? World Environment Day is June 5, 2009.

Q: How does your foundation work to support Indigenous communities?

A: Reforestamos México seeks to conserve and promote sustainable management of forest in Mexico reaching all levels of society. Since 2005 Reforestamos México has worked closely with different Indigenous Peoples in the mountain ranges of Mexico. From the Tarahumara who live in northern Chihuahua to the Yucateco Maya in southeastern Quintana Roo we have been promoting and implementing programs which enhance local ownership of their natural and forest resources in accordance with their ever present cosmology. These 17 Peoples we work with have a true commitment to preserve their environment for they know it is their future which is at stake. Indigenous Peoples we work with: Tarahumara, Tepehuano, Huichol, Purépecha, Otomí, Mazahua, Náhuatl, Totonaco, Tepehua, Matlatzinca, Mixteco, Zapoteco, Chol, Tzotzil, Lacandón, Tzeltal, Maya Yucateco Their message is clear: “We are part of the forest. It is not our decision to destroy it or not. It is you who we are destroying it year after year for the last times.” The model we work through is based on capacity building workshops which set a starting line on Forest awareness in the community. We help to organize and facilitate their first steps. After some time, their own achievements become the main driver to follow their own “living with the forest” dreams.

Q: Can you share a lesson learned from working with Indigenous communities?

A: We have faced the echoes of Peoples empowerment and the creation of local partnerships among neighboring villages. Ancient traditions forced neighbors to give away a day of two to build someone else’s house or the village dam. They have taken these examples of community work to restore, reforest and work the forest in a way they have never done before but certainly will keep on doing. One deep teaching of working with indigenous communities is their Decision Making processes. Assemblies are held in the Community House and they last as long as it takes, sometimes days. They all have a voice and they all listened. They know their rights are not higher than anybody else’s, but they argue hard to keep them tight. Their community decisions are not taken for granted for they all commit to it. The Chief’s voice is one with voice of the community.

Join Ecologic Development Fund by: • Learning the Facts • Sign the Pledge • Take Action • Explore their Work

Click here for more information about World Environment Day 2009

Oak Foundation

Oak is pleased to welcome Ms. Stacy Parker Fisher as Programme Officer for its Learning Differences Programme. Stacy has spent her career working on and leading research and development as well as the implementation and evaluation of outcomes of effective and innovative educational strategies for adults and children. She joins Oak after a short period as an independent educational consultant based in the United States. Click here for full announcement.

IN THE NEWS

United Nations Forum to Seek

Further Implementation of Declaration on the Rights of

indigenous Peoples (New York, 14 May 2009) The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) will meet in at UN Headquarters in New York from 18 to 29 May to discuss ways to further implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which gained momentum last month when Australia officially endorsed the Declaration after previously having voted against it. Click here to read press release

Adoption of a resolution designating April 22 as

International Mother Earth Day

On 22 April 2009, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a unanimous resolution designating April 22 each year as International Mother Earth Day. "Sixty years after adopting the [Universal Declaration of Human Rights], Mother Earth is now finally having the rights recognized" said Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous President

Q: Can you share one of your grantees and why their work is making a difference?

A: Felipe Fuentes Holguín lives in Choguita, a rural Tarahumara community in the northern state of Chihuahua. He started to work in 2004 in his community with a project to restore river beds. His family helped him to grow trees in their first hand made nursery. After two years of hard work and counseling he started to be a reference in the community as the “tree guy”. Now he and his friends and family have started an organization (Oko bawirame: Forest that brings water) which promotes community forest management and organizes workshops in neighboring communities all in rarámuri (their own language) and he has been appointed to be the new Choguita Sheriff starting at the end of 2009 and for the next 3 years. Felipe is a great example of people who take commitments seriously and are ready to make the move to a better future in accordance to their ancient beliefs. In Reforestamos México, we have been working along with 17 different tribes to conserve, manage and restore the forest in México for the benefit of their true owners. Special Thanks to IFIP Member: Claudia Lechuga Perezanta Reforestamos México AC Coordinadora de Cambio Climático y Relaciones Internacionales

REPORTS & ARTICLES

Conversations with the Earth

Conservation with the Earth is a multimedia collaboration to document the impacts of climate change on Indigenous communities and the adaptation strategies of those communities. In an innovative mix of award-wining media professionals, state-of-the-art communication tools, and respectful relations with communities, the project will enable Indigenous communities to share their stories with each other and the world, at a critical juncture for the planet. For more information please click here.

The Indigenous World 2009 Editor: Kathrin Wessendorf

This yearbook contains a comprehensive update on the current situation of indigenous peoples and their human rights, and provides an overview of the most important developments in international and regional processes during 2008. Over 60 indigenous and non-indigenous scholars and activists provide their insight and knowledge.

Click here to view the draft GA Resolution designating 22 April as International Mother Earth Day

Indigenous People Sidelined

in Plans for Dam The Diquís dam, the largest hydroelectric project in Central America, is worrying indigenous communities because Costa Rica’s state power company has excluded them from the decision-making process, in spite of international treaties that stipulate that they must be consulted. Click here to read full story.

U.S.: Obama Urged to Sign Native Rights Declaration

The United States is considering whether to endorse a major U.N. General Assembly resolution calling for the recognition of the rights of the world’s 370 million indigenous peoples over their lands and resources. Click here to read full story.

‘False solutions’ on climate

change bring indigenous delegation to Washington

WASHINGTON – On the eve of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues annual session in New York City, a delegation of 18 indigenous leaders from both hemispheres stopped in Washington to tell Congress and President Barack Obama there will be no solution to global warming and climate change if indigenous communities are not directly involved now. Click here for full story.

JOB

OPENINGS

Association of Small

Foundations

The Association of Small Foundations is seeking a Director of Development.

The Indigenous World 2009 is an essential source of information and indispensable tool for those who need to be informed about the most recent issues and developments that have impacted on indigenous peoples worldwide. It is published in English and Spanish.

For more information click here

REDD and the rights of Indigenous Peoples Ensuring equity and

participation in World Bank funds

One of the most contentious issues under discussion in current climate change debates is how to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) by ensuring protection of the world's rainforests. Mrinalini Rai of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change argues that this initiative, heavily backed by the World Bank among others, raises questions about how to ensure fair compensation to those developing countries that undertake a commitment to such reductions.

Full article can be seen by clicking here.

Report of the international expert group meeting on extractive industries, Indigenous Peoples’ rights and corporate social

responsibility

The present report provides an overview of the issues discussed and recommendations made at the international expert group meeting on Extractive Industries, Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility, held from 27 to 29 March 2009 in Manila, Philippines. Full report click here.

EVENTS FOR FUNDERS

International Grantmaking Basics: Options, Rules and Resources Council on Foundations

June 3, 2009 2:00-3:00 PM

Webinar International grantmaking is a rapidly growing and rewarding field. The webinar will provide practical information to assist foundations interested in making grants for international purposes, whether for the first time or as an expansion of an existing international grants program. For more information click here

Grantmakers Without Borders Annual Conference Global Giving Now: Meeting the Challenge, Seizing the Opportunity

June 8-10, 2009 Washington, DC

The Director of Development is responsible for designing, implementing and managing ASF’s development program. The Director is a member of the senior management team and supports the ASF Board and its Development Committee. With the CEO, the Director is accountable for setting and reaching the goals and objectives defined in the organization’s annual fundraising plan Click here for full job description

CONTACT

US

International Funders for Indigenous Peoples

P.O. Box 1040

Akwesasne, NY 13655

Tel: 1-518-358-9500 Fax: 1-518-358-9544 Email Website

Global grantmakers funding a range of issues will come together to strengthen connections and further their understanding of what it takes, at this moment unlike any we’ve seen, to practice more strategic and effective international giving. The theme of this year’s conference emerges from the extraordinary convergence of factors that seem to bear on almost everything we do; including the economic downturn in the US and globally, the accelerating recognition of the enormous environmental costs of the way we live, and the election of Barack Obama. For complete program details and to register click here.

International Human Rights Funders Group's 2009 Semi-Annual Conference

Human Rights and the Global Economic Crisis

July 13-14, 2009 New York, NY

This summer's plenary theme tackles human rights and the global economic crisis. Is the human rights framework still relevant? How can it be applied to address current challenges? Is this an opportunity to envision a whole new economic paradigm?

IHRFG conferences provide a forum for grantmakers to talk shop, network, collaborate and learn together with peers, activists, scholars and policy-makers on critical human rights issues of the day. As always, this event will mix in-depth examination of multiple perspectives on human rights issues alongside workshops on effective approaches to human rights grantmaking. Click here for a detailed agenda and registration information.

Alaska Seminar: Private Philanthropy, Indigenous Capacity, and Environmental Stewardship

September 29, 2009

This seminar is part of a broader effort to increase support for Alaska Native organizations & entities working to sustain their environment and communities. Through dialogue, skills sessions, and success stories we will: • Provide grant seekers tools/resources for securing private foundation grants • Explore critical environmental health, natural resource management,

subsistence, and conservation issues facing Alaska Native communities • Familiarize funders with Alaska Native cultures and organizational entities

addressing these issues • Share successes & challenges in private philanthropy, from funder & grant

seeker perspectives • Explore strategies to support Alaska Native-led stewardship and sustainability

work • Build relationships to support and strengthen the sustainability movement Participation is limited to ensure meaningful interaction. For more information click here.

Foundation Representatives (Day 2 only): RSVP interest by August 1, 2009 to pcarr@alaskaconservation.org

EVENTS FOR ALL

Assembly of First Nations National Day of Reconciliation

June 11, 2009

Thursday, June 11, 2009 marks the first anniversary of Canada’s apology for its treatment of children, parents and families as a result of the Indian Residential Schools system. Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine is calling on Canadians to join him and many others from across the country in Ottawa on June 11 to participate in a “National Day of Reconciliation” event that will remind the federal government that the apology calls for the establishment of a new standard of behaviour toward Aboriginal people.

The National Day of Reconciliation will begin with a sunrise ceremony at 5:30 a.m. on Victoria Island. Members of the public are welcome to participate or observe. At noon, First Nations leaders and citizens, church leaders, politicians and concerned Canadians will gather for a unity rally on Parliament Hill. National Chief Phil Fontaine will address the crowd, as will other leaders and special invited guests (detailed agenda to follow). At the Hill, children will also invite everyone to participate in a Round Dance, a traditional display of friendship and goodwill. For more information contact: Bryan Hendry, Senior Policy Advisor Assembly of First Nations (613) 241-6789, ext. 229, cell: (613) 293-6106 bhendry@afn.ca

Cultural Survival Bazaar The Cultural Survival Bazaar is the Biggest & Best International Craft Fair in America. Cultural Survival Bazaars are fair-trade events around New England that give indigenous artists from around the world the chance to sell their work directly to the American public. They also expose 30,000 Americans each year to indigenous food, music, and culture, and give visitors a chance to talk with indigenous artists directly.

FREE ADMISSION RAIN OR SHINE!

30th Annual Cultural Survival Bazaar Summer 2009

May 30th, & 31th, 2009, 10am to 6pm, Amherst Common, Amherst, MA

June 6th or July 11th, 2009, 10am to 6pm, Boston Common, Boston, MA--TBA July 18th & 19th, 2009, 10am to 6pm, Kripalu Yoga Center, Stockbridge, MA July 25th & 26th, 2009, 10am to 6pm, Tiverton Four Corners, Tiverton, RI

For more information click here.

The Pachamama Alliance

Symposium and Trainings

Through dynamic group interactions, leading edge information, and inspiring multimedia, participants of this half-day event are inspired to reconnect with their deep concern for our world, and are empowered to make a difference. If you are ready to be disturbed, inspired and moved to action, and to be introduced to a thriving community of committed cohorts, then join us in exploring the most critical concerns of our times, and discover new opportunities to make a real difference in accelerating the emergence of an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, and socially just human presence on this planet! The

Pachamama Alliance's Awakening the Dreamer Program makes available Facilitator Trainings around the world for people who have the desire and commitment to deliver the Symposium in their own communities and beyond. For more information on upcoming Trainings, please click here…

Alaska Seminar: Private Philanthropy, Indigenous Capacity,

and Environmental Stewardship September 28-29, 2009

This seminar is part of a broader effort to increase support for Alaska Native organizations & entities working to sustain their environment and communities. Through dialogue, skills sessions, and success stories we will: • Provide grant seekers tools/resources for securing private foundation grants • Explore critical environmental health, natural resource management,

subsistence, and conservation issues facing Alaska Native communities • Familiarize funders with Alaska Native cultures and organizational entities

addressing these issues • Share successes & challenges in private philanthropy, from funder & grant

seeker perspectives • Explore strategies to support Alaska Native-led stewardship and sustainability

work • Build relationships to support and strengthen the sustainability movement Participation is limited to ensure meaningful interaction. Alaska Native Grant Seekers (Day 1 and Day 2): apply by August 1, 2009 Click here for an application or email pcarr@alaskaconservation.org *Accepted participants will receive travel, accommodations, and meal coverage during the Seminar

We'd like to thank the following foundations for their support of our work in the past year:

Africas Grantmakers Affinity Group Alaska Conservation Foundation Arkay Foundation Channel Foundation Circulos, Inc. Ecologic Development Fund Environmental Grantmakers Association Ford Foundation Environmental Grantmakers Association Friends of the Mirror Foundation in Thailand Full Circle Foundation Fund for Nonviolence Fundacion Gaia Amazonas Garfield Foundation Grassroots International

Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas Native Americans in Philanthropy New England Biolabs Foundation Oak Foundation Oxfam America Reforestamos Mexico A.C. Ringing Rocks Foundation Sacharuna Foundation Sacred Fire Foundation Shared Earth Foundation The Christensen Fund The Gaia Foundation The Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation The Joshua Mailman Foundation Tides Foundation Tierra Madre Fund

Indigenous Peoples Fund of the Tides Foundation International Development Research Centre Island Foundation Kalliopeia Foundation Kenny Family Foundation Kyan Douglas Levi Strauss Foundation Maya Dunne & Associates

Walter & Duncan Gordon Foundation Women's Foundation of California

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