Started in 1972, Cultural Survival is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending “the human rights and cultural autonomy of Indigenous people and oppressed ethnic minorities” (www.cs.org).  David Maybury-Lewis, an anthropology professor at Harvard, formed this group in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Cultural Survival is currently run in affiliation with Harvard’s Weatherhead for International Affairs, an advocacy and research group (data.fas.harvard.edu/cfia/pncs/index.htm).
 

Cultural Survival adheres to an “advocacy anthropology” philosophy (Sponsel 277).  In the early seventies, anthropologists studying Indians began to feel that they had a responsibility of bringing the Indigenous plight to international attention.  Starting with the Declaration of Barbados in 1971, anthropologists began to use their knowledge to promote basic human rights for Indians.  Because Indians do not run Cultural Survival, critics sometimes question whether the organization is overly paternalistic

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Presently, Cultural Survival has many projects underway.  They are active in Peru, Mexico, and Brazil, as well as several other third world countries.  In Chiapas, Cultural Survival funds a project called Sna Jtz’lbajom, or Maya Writers Cooperative.  Started in 1983, the program aims to revive traditional Mayan language through education, literature, and theater (www.cs.org).  A second project was started in 1996 in Peru.  With the goal of rejuvenating ancestral weavings, a well-known weaver named Nilda Callañaupa opened the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco.  Through research and interaction with local weavers, the center promotes knowledge of Incan heritage (Callañaupa).

 
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Catch a Ride Back to the First Page
Pachakut'i
Zapatistas (EZLN)
Popular Revolutionary Army
Shuar Federation
Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE)
Coordination Indigena de la Cuenca Amazonica (COICA)
Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN)
Bibliography