It's time to recognize that celebrating the life of Christopher Columbus is the same as celebrating the erasure of Indigenous existence.
"We believe it is important to hear the other side of the story-- the Indigenous side-- because there are detrimental implications to learning about the side of history that makes heroes of colonizers, and erases those who were colonized" say Shaldon Ferris and Avexnim Cotji, Indigenous Rights Radio producers.
In conjunction with Indigenous Peoples, States should implement open and impartial processes to acknowledge and advance the rights of Indigenous Peoples pertaining to their land, territories and resources.
This series of 24 PSAs in the Native American language Tewa, is based on the Outcome Document of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, which took place in September of 2014 in New York. Translated from English, the PSAs highlight specific passages of the Outcome Document in an effort to inform audiences of exactly what the document contains and encourages action.
Indigenous Peoples should be consulted in good faith through their own representative institutions in order for States to gain Free, Prior and Informed Consent before any development projects take place in indigenous territories.