9 August 2012 – The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, celebrated 9 August, shines a spotlight on the contributions and challenges of some 370 million people in culturally diverse communities around the world.
This year’s theme for the Day, Indigenous Media, Empowering Indigenous Voices, highlights how media can allow indigenous perspectives to be heard and also can be used to counter stereotypes.
To celebrate the Day, Grand Chief Edward John of the Tl’azt’en Nation, in northwestern British Columbia, came to New York Headquarters in his role as Chairperson of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which gives an institutional voice to indigenous people in their effort to secure economic and social rights under the Declaration of the Rights of the Indigenous peoples, which all nations have now endorsed.