Indigenous Day Demonstration

A demonstration was held on the Dam square in Amsterdam on Friday to raise worldwide awareness for indigenous people.

The event aimed to increase awareness on the mistreatment of indigenous people in different countries. Several indigenous people attended the gathering including Aztec (Mexico), the West Papua and AlifURU (Indonesia), and the Karib (Surinam).  They drew attention by performing customary dances and expressed their concerns afterwards.

The Dam Square, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Photo by Jorge Royan /Wikimedia Commons

August 9 is the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, established by the UN Secretary-General almost a decade ago. It became a way of communicating issues on the experiences of indigenous groups. Their problems mostly involve seizing land, abuse of human rights, cultural assimilation and inadequate local and national government support.

The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), an international, non-violent, and democratic membership organization representing indigenous peoples, minorities, and unrecognized or occupied territories, was present at the demonstration to show their support.

Source: UNPO