World Tribal Day 2023: Youth as the agents of change

International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples is observed every year on August 9 to promote and protect the rights of the world's indigenous population. The theme for 2023 is 'Indigenous Youth as Agents of Change for Self-Determination'. Here's a glance at the lives of tribals in contemporary times

By Madhu Kapparath

Published: Aug 9, 2023 05:23:20 PM IST

Updated: Aug 9, 2023 06:01:03 PM IST

Vulnerable to violations of identities, tribals' way of life and their right to traditional lands, territories and natural resources in a rapidly changing society are some of the pressing crises facing these groups in India and around the world today. An estimated 476 million indigenous peoples live across 90 countries, speaking an overwhelming majority of the world's estimated 7,000 languages and dialects. Tribal youth hold the key to climate action and mobilising for justice while fostering their identity through intergenerational connections. Here are a few recent vignettes of people most vulnerable to the violation of their rights.

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A candlelight protest over the sexual assault of two Kuki tribeswomen, during ongoing ethnic clashes between Meitei-Kuki community in Manipur, on July 26, 2023, in Guwahati, India. The continuing violence in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur resulted in over 180 deaths as of early August.

Image: Sanjeev Verma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

President Droupadi Murmu meets with a tableaux artist who participated in the Republic Day Parade at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 27, 2023, in New Delhi, India. Murmu, belonging to the Santhal tribe, has made history by becoming the first woman tribal President of India.

Image: Luis Gandarillas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Women from the Imilla Skate collective teach an Aymara woman how to skate in La Paz, Bolivia, on June 22, 2022. Imilla Skate is a group of female skaters of Quechua and Aymara origin who seek to show their passion for skateboarding while rooted in their identity, culture, and femininity.

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People of the Red Yao ethnic group hang up their clothes to celebrate the Drying Clothes Festival on July 23, 2023, in Guilin, China. ''Drying clothes festival'' is celebrated annually on the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, in the belief that the sunshine can help ward off bad luck and bring good fortune.

Image: Handout / Colombian Presidency / AFP

Brazilian Minister of Indigenous Peoples Sonia Guajajara greets President Gustavo Petro during the Amazon Summit - IV Meeting of Presidents of States Parties to the Amazon Cooperation Treaty (ACTO) in Belem, Para State, Brazil, on August 8, 2023. Eight South American countries agreed Tuesday (August 8) to launch an alliance to promote sustainable development, end deforestation and fight the organised crime that fuels it.

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Demonstrators gather in the Mississippi River while others march across it during a 'Treaty People Gathering' protest in Clearwater County, Minnesota, US, on June 7, 2021. Environmental and tribal groups say Enbridge Energys's new pipeline, which would carry Canadian tar sands oil and regular crude, would worsen climate change and risk spills in sensitive areas where Native Americans harvest wild rice, hunt, fish, gather medicinal plants, and claim treaty rights.

Image: James Wakibia/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

A member of the Sidi Dhamaal Sidi Goma Saiyad Akbarmiya Gulamali Kadari Dance Group performs during the India-Kenya Cultural evening held at the Shri Krishna Hindu Temple in Nakuru, Kenya on June 14, 2023. The Sidis are Indians belonging to the tribal Sufi Community of East African Origin with deep African musical traditions that they have kept alive for generations.

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A Christian female pastor runs a Sunday mass at a Karenni Internally Displaced People (IDP) settlement in Myanmar on February 5, 2023. Since the February 2021 military coup, between 200,000 and 300,000 people have fled their homes in Kayah State, Myanmar.

Image: Martin Philbey / Getty Images

Musical artist Kee' ahn poses for portraits backstage at the Treaty Day Out Fest in Bendigo Show Grounds, Melbourne, Australia, on October 1, 2022. Treaty Day aims to tackle the racist legacies of invasion and create a better future together as equals for Victoria's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Image: Ricardo Ceppi/Getty Images

An indigenous painting adorns the shack of a popular community library, "Ambrosio Casimiro", for the native Diaguita language on March 23, 2023, in Cachi, Salta, Argentina.

Image: Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images

Armed Yemeni tribal youth from Abyan province await their military commander Faisal Rajab's release from Houthi-held Sana'a after being detained for eight years, Sana'a, Yemen, on April 30, 2023.

Image: Mohammad Shajahan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

A weaver at work on a traditional fabric pattern for Chakma tribal community in an old handloom factory in Chittagong, Bangladesh, on March 4, 2023. This traditional weave on clothes is being prepared for Biju, one of the major festivals of the minority ethnic group Chakmas who live in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.