News
Global News, Action Items, and Updates from Tallgrass Institute
News of Note 5/23/25: Warning of Indigenous Extinction in Colombia, Roadmap to Preserve Mapuche Land, US Tribes Fight for Boarding School Recognition
UN warns that five Indigenous groups in Columbia are facing extinction, special commission in Chile delivers a report to address land disputes and Indigenous rights, two Tribes sue the U.S. to account for boarding school tragedies and estimated $23.3 billion costs, and more.
Takeaways: IIPWG May 2025
Items excerpted from the May 2025 Investors & Indigenous Peoples Working Group (IIPWG) Newsletter.
News of Note: 5/16/25: Disproportionate Indigenous Impacts from Mining, Waorani Demand Decision-Making Rights, Illegal Evictions of Rumah Jeffrey
Updates to the global Transition Minerals Tracker shows disproportionate impacts to Indigenous communities, Waorani communities advocate in decision making rights in Ecuador after reactivation of the Southeast Oil Round, new report looks at deforestation and illegal evictions of Malaysia’s Indigenous peoples, and more.
News of Note 5/9/25: Apache Sacred Site Transfer Halt, Clean Water Mandated in Pará, Lithium Lawsuit Against Indigenous Defenders
A U.S. federal court halted land transfer of Western Apache Oak Flat sacred site, a Pará federal court ordered clean water supply to Indigenous communities facing drought and contamination, Lithium Americas sues Indigenous land defenders at Thacker Pass, and more.
News of Note 5/2/25: Unfulfilled Promises Five Years after Juukan Gorge, Tropical Forest Fund to Lunch, Indigenous Representation in High Seas Treaty
Aboriginal group raises concern that Rio Tinto hasn’t fulfilled its promises five years after destruction of the Juukan Gorge sacred site, a step forward for the Brazil tropical forest fund, Indigenous representatives push for integration into the Agreement on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) ‘High Seas Treaty’, and more.
News of Note 4/25/25: Native CDFIs Advocate Economic Sovereignty, Indigenous Peoples and AI, UNPFII Week 1
Native CDFIs center economic sovereignty amidst policy and budgetary rollbacks in the U.S., Indigenous Peoples in Taiwan see threats and opportunity in AI use, reports from the first week of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and more.
Takeaways: IIPWG April 2025
Information on investors’ withdrawal of the proposal at JPMorgan Chase, public consultation summary and an investor brief for the Consolidated Mining Standard Initiative, and more.
News of Note 4/18/25: Major Bank Widens FPIC Scope, Land Swap of Sacred Land for Mining in Arizona, Te-Moak Tribe Ancestral Land Re-opened for Oil
JPMorgan Chase will now consider FPIC in general as well as project-specific financing; the US approved a land swap to allow Rio Tinto to mine sacred Native land in Arizona and re-opened Ruby Mountains–ancestral homelands of the Te-Moak Tribe of the Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada–to oil, gas and geothermal leasing.
Concerns about CMSI’s Indigenous Rights Thresholds
Analysis raises concerns about the proposed Consolidated Mining Standard Initiative (CMSI).
News of Note 4/11/25: Indigenous Land Rights in Thailand, World Bank Redress Fund, Māori Rights Upheld
A mass demonstration helped secure formal recognition of land tenure rights for forest communities in Thailand, the World Bank is spearheading a multimillion dollar redress fund for pastoralists harmed by tourism projects in Tanzania, Māori rights were upheld with defeat of a treaty-denying bill in New Zealand, and more.
News of Note 4/4/25: No Consent to Oil from Achuar and Sapara Nations, Brazil Mining Proposal Revoked, Violations Escalate against Pataxó People
The Achuar and Sapara nations in Ecuador assembled and agreed they do not consent to oil development on ancestral lands, Brazil’s Supreme Court withdrew its proposal to allow mining in Indigenous territories, rights violations against the Pataxó people in Brazil escalate without demarcation of their ancestral territories, and more.
News of Note 3/21/25: Standing Rock Statement, Palm Oil Impacts from US Snacks, Indigenous Climate Resilience
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s statement on Energy Transfer’s lawsuit, Indigenous Peoples in West Papua boycott US snack and beauty products from palm oil impacts, multiple Indigenous voices addressing the climate crisis.
News of Note 3/14/25: $700M Compensation, AI Cultural Appropriation, Landmark Indigenous Rights Rulings
Australian commonwealth liable to $700 million compensation to traditional owners, Adobe criticized for AI appropriation of Indigenous culture and art, landmark rulings for Sámi and Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation among others.