News of Note 7/18/25: Threat to Two Million Indigenous Peoples in Nigeria, Conservation Impacts on Bote Communities, Historic Native Title Win in Australia
Top Stories
Nigeria: Two Million Abuja Indigenous People Face Extinction, Chriced Tells UN Body (AllAfrica)
“The Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED) has warned that over two million indigenous people of Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, face the risk of extinction due to systematic exclusion, land dispossession, political disenfranchisement, and cultural erasure. [...] CHRICED noted that the consequences of government neglect are devastating. Abuja's indigenous communities lack access to basic amenities such as functional healthcare, quality education, clean water, sanitation, and infrastructure.”
Nepal’s Indigenous Bote community is caught between conservation and survival (Global Voices)
“The Botes are an Indigenous community comprising 0.04 percent of Nepal’s total population. For generations, they have lived in close connection with the country’s rivers and streams and earned their livings by fishing in their waters and navigating wooden boats that once transported people and goods. [...] The enforcement of strict conservation laws, such as the requirement of a fishing license to fish in the rivers and lakes within Chitwan National Park, has brought significant hardship to the Bote community residing in the park’s buffer zones.[...]
Native title win for Millewa-Mallee First Nations peoples in Victoria after decades-long fight (Australian Associated Press via The Guardian)
“After a difficult journey spanning more than two decades, traditional owners say they’ve ‘weathered the storm’ to finally have their native title rights recognised. The federal court on Friday awarded the historic native title determination to the Indigenous peoples of the Millewa-Mallee from north-west Victoria, for the first time granting exclusive native title rights in the state. Exclusive native title means the three traditional owner groups which make up the First Nations peoples of the Millewa-Mallee – Latji Latji, Ngintait and Nyeri Nyeri – have the right to control access to their country under traditional law and customs.”
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Fred Kariankei and the fight against conservation elite in Kenya (Indigenous Peoples Rights International)
Indigenous Communities in Putumayo Mount Resistance against Canadian Oil (North American Congress on Latin America)
Indigenous Leaders in Canada Demand Accountability from JBIC and Mitsubishi for Complicity in LNG Canada Violations (Oil Change International)
Major projects: How Bill C-5 works and why Indigenous leaders are so concerned (The Canadian Press)
A federal grant freeze could disrupt over $24 billion to Native American communities and undermine US obligations to Tribes (The Brookings Institution)
Do courts protect Native religious rights? Oak Flat copper mine opponents voice doubts (Arizona Republic)
Half of Households on Native American Reservations Lack Access to Reliable Water Sources, Clean Drinking Water, or Adequate Sanitation (Native News Online)
Native public media reels after federal budget cuts (ICT News and Associated Press)
HRC President: Indigenous Peoples’ participation in UN processes is vital to advancing their rights (United Nations Human Rights Ofiice of the High Commissioner)Native American teens kayak major US river to celebrate removal of dams and return of salmon (Associated Press)