The word “powwow” has become part of our own language. It originates from the Algonquian term “pau-wau” or “pauau” meaning a group of medicine men and refers to Indigenous North American social gatherings. Traditionally, powwows were community

Native American jewelry – A traditional craft still going strong
Although you saw Klee working with contemporary mediums in episode 13 of Konnected.tv, he is also a silversmith and leather worker, keeping his Navajo culture alive. When most people think about Native American jewelry, they think about silver and turquoise, although these might be the most common examples you can find in the 21st century, they certainly weren’t the materials used thousands of years ago.

Historically, jewelry was m...

The FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) is the country’s longest-standing and largest rebel group and one of the world’s richest guerrilla armies. Founded by Manuel “Sureshot” Marulanda in 1964, its mission was to overthrow the gover

The Cauca is one of the prime regions torn by war between the Colombian military and the FARC guerilla group. The rural population, mostly of Indigenous descent, are the most dramatically hit by armed confrontations. In response to the unprovoked killings

TAGUIDE PICANERAI



Originating from the Chaco region of Paraguay, Taguide Picanerai is the director of an indigenous organization and Paraguay’s first Ayoreo to attend university. A direct descendant of the uncontacted Ayoreo who traditionally lived in dense forest stretching from Paraguay to Bolivia and Argentina, Taguide works with his father – chief of the Chaidi community - to prevent contact with the remaining uncontacted members. Based in the village of Chaidi, Taguide and his group represe...

The livelihood of the Raramuri is threatened by a terrible dry season that has brought misery to these remote communities. The deforestation of their territory is the number one cause of the crisis, since the wholesale cutting of timber has caused a loss

Isolated by some of the most rugged terrain in the Americas, here is the story of a peaceful and humble tribe who are able to run hundreds of miles without rest: the Raramuri. The Copper Canyon in the Sierra Madres Mountains of Mexico is the home of Catalina Rascon and Miguel Lara, two young Raramuri Indians who are going places… fast!



14 year old Catalina is a rising star in ultra-trail running, a tradition integral to the Native Raramuri way of life. In 2013, young Catalina amazed the crowds wh...

THE MAPUCHE PEOPLE: A history of resistance

The Mapuche are descendants of the Araucanians and the original inhabitants of Chile and Argentina whose history is steeped in resistance. Today, they constitute about 10% of the Chilean population, making th

RUCA HOMES: Eco houses designed for Indigenous people

In 2010, the small Mapuche community of Huechuraba, located on the northern outskirts of Santiago, Chile, embarked on an inspirational social housing project. They worked with architects and sponsor

PALIN: Reviving Mapuche culture through sport



Palin is an age-old competitive sports game traditionally practiced by the Mapuche people, Chile’s largest native minority group. Named chueca by the Spanish conquerors, this exhilarating sport was originally played to settle tribal disputes. The game consists of 2 teams comprising 5 – 15 players, or peloteros, facing each other in two rows on a large rectangular field. Each player has their own role to play and is paired off against an opponent, kno...

Wechekeche Ñi Trawün – meaning “young people together” – is a Chilean Mapuche collective that fuses their musical heritage with modern-day urban beats in an effort to keep their ancient Indigenous culture alive. The organization was set up in 2005 by history teacher Axel Paillafilu and other founding members from Santiago. Group members meet up in their clubhouse on a regular basis to organize various activities relating to Mapuche culture, such as cooking, language teaching, history, palin pl...

HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE: A new lease of life for a dying tongue



Olelo Hawaii, the Hawaiian language, is said to be one of the world’s oldest living languages. Although it is one of the two official languages in the state of Hawaii, it is considered endangered as it is spoken by just 8,000 of the 400,000 ethnic Hawaiians. The decline in native Hawaiian speakers is the result of an almost century-long ban on the Hawaiian language in schools following the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893. Families...