News of Note 2/28/25: Vale Contamination, Australia’s Self-Determination Blindspot, Indigenous Digital Intelligence
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In Brazil, mining giant Vale is sued over metal contamination found in Indigenous peoples (Associated Press)
“The civil lawsuit, filed Friday and disclosed this week, alleges contamination from Vale’s nickel mining at the Onca-Puma site, with the Catete River carrying mine pollution into Indigenous territory. In 2022, the company and the Xikrin reached an agreement for monthly compensation, but it did not cover health issues, according to the prosecution. A study by the Federal University of Para, conducted last spring in villages in the Xikrin do Catete Indigenous Territory, found dangerously high levels of heavy metals, including lead, mercury and nickel, in the hair of virtually all the 720 people surveyed. Fearing contamination in the river water, the Xikrin are using bottled water for their children and buying fish from municipal markets.”
This is not your land (New Internationalist)
“It seems true self-determination for Indigenous Australians remains in the hands of the nation’s ungenerous and unauthorized colonizers. With Australia’s identity cut through by a deep-seated denialism among its non-Indigenous majority, it can only be hoped that they too will eventually see that their own health and progress as a nation relies on that of its First Peoples. In the words spoken by Gangulu activist Lilla Watson at a UN conference in 1985: ‘If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.’”
Indigenous intelligence in the digital age: 5 lessons from Davos (World Economic Forum)
“At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, experts explored how Indigenous intelligence can be leveraged to drive innovation, sustainability and integrative global solutions. [The five lessons are:] 1. Rethinking our relationship with nature 2. Restoring land, restoring balance 3. Protecting data ownership 4. AI and Indigenous data 5. Charting a path towards Indigenous-powered innovation.”
GreenMoney Journal Indigenous Peoples & Impact Investing Issue - Part 2
Unleashing Potential: The Vision of WIHEDC for Native Economic Development (Wisconsin Indigenous Housing and Economic Development Corporation)
Change the Lending Paradigm: A Model of Success in Native Ag Finance (Akiptan)
Indigenous Values Seed Systems Transformation in Hawai’i (Hawai’i Investment Ready)
Entry Points for Equity: Risk Criteria and Partnership in Indigenous-aligned Portfolios (Adasina Social Capital)
Indigenous Peoples and Engagement Timeline for Sustainable and Responsible Investing – 2016 to 2024 (Boston Common Asset Management with Tallgrass Institute and GreenMoney Journal)
Podcast: Carol Anne Hilton, Indigenous worldviews & the Indigenomics approach (Earth Charter)
Video: Leveraging the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Shareholder Advocacy (Investors & Indigenous Peoples Working Group)
More News
From Uprooted to Uplifted: The Movement to Restore Indigenous Land Rights (Standford Social Innovation Review)
Strengthening Bonds to Resist Lithium Extraction: Pankararú-Pataxó People in Brazil (Cultural Survival)
The Manipur Polycrisis: Indigenous Pathways for Peace and Healing (The Diplomat)
The Case Against Greenpeace Puts a Spotlight on Native History (The New York Times)
For ALL Women and Girls: Robie Halip on Indigenous leadership in renewable energy transition (UN Women)
Indigenous Dayak community makes strides on Borneo toward forest autonomy (Mongabay)
Rivers of Resistance: Black and Indigenous Solidarity Against Colonial Extractivism (Amazon Watch)
Local activists oppose Deocha-Pachami coal mine project, allege displacement of indigenous people (The Hindu)
March for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Focuses on Wisconsin, Minnesota, Several Tribes (Native News Online)
Native American Stereotyping Contributes to Climate Change (Union of Concerned Scientists)
Canada celebrates launch of the $5B Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program (ReNew Canada)
New report to track growing economic development trends among Michigan’s Tribal communities (Crain's Grand Rapids Business)
Failure to consult Indigenous Peoples on future pandemics will further harm children’s education (Amnesty International)