Who is responsible for protecting and preserving Indigenous cultures?

A Global Voices Spotlight roundup surveys Indigenous rights across continents, noting that 476 million Indigenous people steward a quarter of Earth's landmass while facing genocide denial, land theft, and criminal prosecution for organizing. Examples range from Assyrians unrecognized by any regional constitution, to Nueva Vizcaya leaders in the Philippines facing over 30 criminal cases for an anti-mining rally, to 258 Indigenous people murdered in Brazil in 2025 alone.

The piece also documents state land grabs dressed as policy: China's cotton law placing millions of Uyghur and Tibetan farmers under state data supervision, and Tanzania relocating Maasai lands for tourism and hunting concessions marketed as conservation.

Against this, the roundup notes smaller wins in language preservation, from Nigeria's Kam community recording their language to Russia's Buryat textile heritage kept alive through fashion design, suggesting that when Indigenous communities do hold the decision, the outcomes look rather different.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.