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In Memoriam: Dr. Rudolph C. Rÿser, Founding Chair, CWIS

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Women Who Heal

Women Who Heal

May 7, 2025

Across Indigenous communities, women are the heart of traditional medicine. The Fourth World Journal invites submissions that honor their healing knowledge, resilience, and leadership. Share your research, reflections, or community-based experiences by August 1, 2025.

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Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge (GRATK)

Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge (GRATK)

April 28, 2025

Indigenous knowledge holders and community members have actively resisted global biopiracy through international diplomacy. After over 20 years of strategic, resilient, and effective political engagement, Indigenous peoples have achieved a monumental first step toward protecting their IP from biopiracy and bioprospecting: the GRATK (Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge) treaty, adopted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in May of 2024.

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Preservation or Erasure?

Preservation or Erasure?

April 16, 2025

In 2010, 194 UN Member States set an aim to conserve at least 17% of land and 10% of marine areas by 2020 in a resolution known as Aichi Target…

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Galvanizing Grief from the Greatest Thing I Never Did

Galvanizing Grief from the Greatest Thing I Never Did

April 10, 2025

The United States executive branch under the Trump-Vance administration (tva) is attempting to obliterate not just the futures of Americans, but the entire world. Let me explain. I was to…

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Healing in the Face of Violence: Indigenous Women, Traditional Medicine, and Resistance

Healing in the Face of Violence: Indigenous Women, Traditional Medicine, and Resistance

April 9, 2025

Post-Colonial Violence, Indigenous Women, and Traditional Medicine The relationship between violence against Indigenous women and traditional medicine is deeply rooted in historical, cultural, and systemic forces. Across many Indigenous nations,…

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The Role of Women in Traditional Medicine: A Call for Papers

The Role of Women in Traditional Medicine: A Call for Papers

February 17, 2025

The Fourth World Journal invites submissions for a special edition on Indigenous women in traditional medicine. This issue will explore their critical role in health, resistance, and environmental sustainability. Scholars, practitioners, and activists are encouraged to contribute studies, narratives, and policy analyses highlighting Indigenous knowledge systems and decolonial healthcare approaches.

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“Sin maíz, no hay país”: How Free Trade Hurts Indigenous Food Sovereignty in Mexico

“Sin maíz, no hay país”: How Free Trade Hurts Indigenous Food Sovereignty in Mexico

February 13, 2025

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) laud free trade as a doctrine of economic growth, prosperity, and development. Free trade agreements (FTAs), agreements between two…

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Indigenous Cultural Property and International Law: Restitution, Rights and Wrongs

Indigenous Cultural Property and International Law: Restitution, Rights and Wrongs

February 12, 2025

We’re excited to share the final blog in our Fourth World Journal: Volume 24, Winter Issue series! In this issue, Martha L. Schmidt, CWIS Board Member, reviews Elizabeth Esterling’s monograph…

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Cosmovision and Animism in Performance

Cosmovision and Animism in Performance

February 10, 2025

As we near the end of this series of blog posts about the latest issue of the Fourth World Journal, we are excited to present the article “Aillaquillen: The Island…

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Indigenous Food Sovereignty – A Literature Review

Indigenous Food Sovereignty – A Literature Review

February 5, 2025

Introducing another of our accomplished authors, we have Robert Hansell’s “Indigenous Food Sovereignty: A Thematic & Case Study Literature Review.” We are thrilled to publish a piece that resonates so…

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Chief George Manuel Memorial Indigenous Library

The library is dedicated to the memory of Secwepemc Chief George Manuel (1921-1989), to the nations of the Fourth World and to the elders and generations to come.

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