Center for World Indigenous Studies

Fourth World nations throughout the world, after more than fifty years of struggle against forces of power and money, push now for autonomy and the power to govern themselves and their territories. Some nations such as the Naga in Northeastern India, Karen in eastern Burma, Papuans claimed by Indonesia, Chechens claimed by Russia, nations in... more →

In this article, CWIS associate scholar Janaka Jayawickrama (of the Trauma Risk Reduction Programme Disaster and Development Centre at Northumbria University) wrote about his experience organizing relief in the wake of the Sri Lanka Tsunami. He also participated in producing a remarkable Rapid Assessment Report organized by a group of young indigenous volunteers that was... more →

Robert A. Pape, the University of Chicago professor of Political Science gets it. US, British, Australian, Chinese, Russian and Israeli leaders should pay close attention to his words: “…suicide terrorism is mainly a response to foreign occupation rather than the product of Islamic fundamentalism…” Pape’s insightful, well documented and thorough analysis of what he calls... more →

In this paper by Stephanie Hendrick and Therese Ornberg, The Weblog as an Immersive Space is explored based on the coverage of a Sami cultural festival by a team of webloggers and technicians from Umea University, Sweden. Using social enhancers to make the blog a meeting place for participants and viewers worldwide, they were able... more →

“Impunity” is one of those words increasingly heard throughout the Americas and the world generally. Governments, Organized Crime, Corporations, The Church have increasingly become the beneficiaries of impunity–commission of violence, intimidation, stealing, and other acts normally considered “crimes” are made free from punishment, unpunished. The word is derived from the Latin impunitatem meaning “freedom from... more →