Executive Director’s Message

Our future Is tied to Indigenous languages Donors like you make our work around

the world possible. thanks so much for being part of Cultural Survival!

Dear Cultural Survival Community,

On January 1, 2022, the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022–2032) will commence. It is an opportunity to shed light on the critical state of Indigenous languages and to bring resources to Indigenous communities’ efforts to revitalize and reclaim Indigenous languages to ensure the healing, well being, and prosperity of Indigenous communities. Cultural Survival is dedicating this issue of the Cultural Survival Quarterly to uplifting the voices and work of Indigenous educators, practitioners, linguists, activists, journalists, and communicators, who, against all odds, with limited to no resources, are strengthening their mother tongues and creating new language speakers through various media platforms and tools. We are also pleased to share with you some of the outcomes of our three-day virtual conference, “Restoring and Protecting Our Native Languages and Landscapes,” which took place in October 2021.

Although Indigenous Peoples make up 6.2 percent of the global population, we speak more than 4,000 of the world’s languages. Today, a third of the world’s languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers left. Every two weeks a language dies with its last speaker; 50 to 90 percent of them are predicted to disappear by the next century.

It is no coincidence that the world’s remaining biodiversity hotspots are home to 70 percent of all languages spoken on Earth. There is a fundamental connection between Indigenous languages and Traditional Knowledge and how they relate to biodiversity conservation. Indigenous communities have developed relationships and classification systems with, and in, the natural world that are intricate and demonstrate a deep understanding of their local environments. Our knowledge systems are embedded in traditional practices and reflected in Indigenous names and oral traditions. These invaluable understandings are at high risk of being lost when an Indigenous language disappears.

Indigenous women, as you will read in this issue, are guardians of our Traditional Knowledge and cultures, and play a vital role in the reclamation and revitalization of Indigenous languages. The role of Indigenous women in the transmission of Traditional Knowledge through ceremonies, medicinal plants, dances, arts, and proper relations to the land is often expressed through language and storytelling. Women’s leadership in the transmission of Indigenous languages to younger generations is crucial for the well being of Indigenous communities and the environment, and these efforts need to be recognized, supported, and resourced.

Dr. Richard Grounds (Yuchi and Seminole) drives home the most important point: the most critical measure of language revitalization is the creation of new speakers, and this, along with securing adequate funding, needs to be the focus of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages. Resources need to specifically target Indigenous-led, community-based language programs that are built on immersion.

We hope you will join us in supporting Indigenous language revitalization and reclamation. Our nearly 50-year legacy of advocating for Indigenous Peoples’ rights is thanks to you, our community, who help make our work possible. Join us in shifting the narrative and resources to support Indigenous languages, solutions, and leadership to build a better world for us all. As we approach our 50th anniversary in 2022, we have an ambitious goal to raise $500,000 by June 1, 2022 for our #CS50 campaign. We are counting on you!

Galina Angarova (Buryat) Executive Director

cultural surVIVal staff

galina angarova (Buryat), Executive Director mark Camp, Deputy Executive Director avexnim Cojtí (Maya K’iche’), Director of Programs Daisee Francour (Oneida), Director of Strategic

Partnerships and Communications monica Coc magnusson (Q’eqchi Maya),

Director of Advocacy and Policy verónica aguilar (Mixtec), Program Assistant,

Keepers of the Earth Fund bryan bixcul (Maya Tz’utujil), Executive Assistant Jessie Cherofsky, Advocacy Program Researcher Danielle DeLuca, Advocacy & Development

Manager Shaldon Ferris (Khoisan), Indigenous Radio

Program Coordinator Sofia Flynn, Accounting & Office Manager nati garcia (Maya Mam), Indigenous Community

Media Youth Fellowship Coordinator adriana hernández (Maya K'iche'),

Emerging Strategies Coordinator Dev Kumar Sunuwar (Kumar/Sunuwar),

Community Media Program Coordinator Danae Laura, Bazaar Program Manager maria del rosario “rosy” Sul gonzález (Kaqchikel),

Indigenous Rights Radio Program Manager bia’ni madsa’ Juárez López, (Mixe/Ayuuk ja’ay & Zapotec/Binnizá), Keepers of the Earth

Fund Program Manager Jamie malcolm-brown, Communications &

Information Technology Manager teresita Orozco mendoza, Community Media

Training Coordinator amparo monzón (Maya K’iche), Program

Assistant, Community Media & Indigenous

Rights Radio Programs Cat monzón (Maya K’iche’), Executive Assistant Cesar gomez moscut (Pocomam),

Community Media Program Coordinator Edson Krenak naknanuk (Krenak), Lead on Brazil Diana pastor (Maya K’iche’), Media Coordinator guadalupe pastrana (Nahua), Indigenous

Rights Radio Producer agnes portalewska, Communications Manager Sócrates vásquez (Ayuujk), Program Manager,

Community Media miranda vitello, Development Coordinator Candy williams, Human Resources Manager

Interns and Volunteers

Jessica aros Castro, Dorothea bauer, Laura harvey, Sarah hume, rebecca Kirkpatrick, nathalie martinez, mariana navarrete, becca Small

www.cs.org

2021 statement of ownership

2021 Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation: 1. Publication Title: Cultural Survival Quarterly 2. Publication Number: 0740-3291 3. Filing Date: September 19, 2021 4. Issue Frequency: Quarterly 5. Number of Issues Published Annually: Four 6. Annual Subscription Price: $45.00 7. Mailing Address of Publication: 2067 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02140 8. Mailing Address of Publisher Headquarters: 2067 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02140 9. Full Mailing Address and Complete Names of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor-Publisher: Cultural Survival, Inc. 2067 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02140, Editor/Managing Editor: Agnes Portalewska, Cultural Survival, 2067 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02140 10. Owner: Cultural Survival, Inc., 2067 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02140 11. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Securities: None 12. Tax Status: The purpose, function, and nonprofit status for federal income tax purposes has not changed during the preceding 12 months 13. Publication Title: Cultural Survival Quarterly 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: December 2021-Issue 45, Volume 4 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation: Subscription to members a. Total Number of Copies: Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months: 2400; Actual No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date: 2400 b. Paid and/or Requested Circulation-1. Paid/Requested Outside-County Mail Subscriptions Stated on Form 3541: 1300; 1200 2. Paid In-County Subscriptions: 280; 350 3. Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other Non-USPS Paid Distribution: 400; 350 4. Other Classes Mailed Through the USPS: 150; 160 c. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation: 2130; 2060 d. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution 1. Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County 50; 60 2. Free or Nominal Rate In-County : 40; 50 3. Free or Cultural Survival Quarterly December 2021 • 1Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at Other Classes 70; 60 4. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail 50; 30 e. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution: 210; 200 f. Total Distribution: 2340; 2260 g. Copies Not Distributed: 60; 140 h. Total: 2400; 2400 i. Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation: 91; 91 16. This Statement of Ownership will be printed in the December 2021 issue of this publication 17. I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete: Agnes Portalewska, Communications Manager, Cultural Survival, Inc.