About us

We help tribal peoples protect their lives, lands and human rights. We oppose the racist attitudes which underpin the way tribal peoples are viewed, and seek to stop the illegal and unjust way they are treated.

We work to change racist attitudes towards, and false beliefs about, tribal peoples. Our vision is to foster an understanding of, and respect for, tribal peoples and the choices they make about their futures.

We catalyze a growing alliance of people around the world who support tribal peoples and their rights, and turn it into effective action.

Our vision is for a world where tribal peoples are recognized and respected; an end to the unjust treatment tribal peoples are subjected to; and a world where tribal peoples are free to live on their own lands, safe from violence, oppression and exploitation.

We believe all countries must support and uphold, as minimum standards, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as ratify and apply the Indigenous & Tribal Peoples Convention (ILO 169).

We also believe all companies and organizations operating in tribal areas must adopt, as a formal and binding policy, the commitment that they will take no action without the free, prior and informed consent of the tribal people. This also applies to conservation organizations.

We stress that this consent can never be free and informed unless the tribal people are clearly told, at the beginning of any talks, that they have the right to withhold their agreement without facing negative repercussions.

We believe companies should not operate in tribal areas without first having clear, written, binding agreements, agreed only after the tribal people have obtained independent expert advice. We produce suggested texts for such agreements, drafted by experts.

We believe there should be no incursions into the lands of tribes who have no peaceful contact with outsiders, as they cannot give their informed consent.

They know what’s best for themselves, and have the right to choose to live differently.

Tribal peoples are not backward, primitive or Stone Age. They have invaluable and unique knowledge of their environment, particularly plants and animals. Most of the world’s staple crops, feeding billions, were developed by tribal peoples. Many of the principal drugs used in ‘modern’ medicine originate with them.

Their survival is in the interest of all humanity. Their diversity shows us how alternative ways of living can be successful. They show us what is really shared by all human life, and what is just social conditioning.

Their disappearance is not inevitable.

We recognize that many societies, including some tribal ones, incorporate cruel practices which are not based on consent. We never condone them. Some practices (e.g. female genital mutilation, infanticide) are sometimes used to attack tribal rights. This is wrong: they are also found in non-tribal societies.

People’s sense of their own wellbeing is more important than political or economic gain.

‘Development’ projects which destroy people are not ‘progress’ and should not be tolerated.

Tribal peoples offer today’s world alternative values and ways of successful living; diversity is important.

The more tribal peoples are understood, the more they’ll be respected and the less they’ll be mistreated.

We do not try to ‘keep people as they are’, but to ensure they survive, so they can freely choose their own future. They cannot do this without their lands.

Public opinion is the only effective force which can bring permanent change. We aim to expand it to build on a movement which will really make a difference, for generations.

We never condone violence, or practices, however ‘traditional’, which are not based on free consent.

Background to our principles

Peoples who have followed ways of life for many generations that are largely self-sufficient, and are different from the mainstream and dominant society.

There are about 150 million tribal individuals; but it is impossible to give a number of peoples, as this depends on how they are counted. For example, the British can be counted as one people or several.

There are tribal peoples living in all inhabited continents, in about 60 countries. Their ancestral lands are integral to their lives, providing their livelihoods and sustaining their ways of life.

Tribal people constitute about 40% of the wider category of indigenous people, which includes many who have now been deprived of their lands and self-sufficiency. The line between who is ‘tribal’ and who is ‘indigenous’ is not clear-cut.

There are about 100 ‘uncontacted peoples’ in the world, who have no peaceful contact with wider national society.

Violence
Tribal people are still violently attacked, and sometimes killed, particularly in parts of South & Central America, Africa and Asia.
Violence, often self-inflicted, is also a big problem in wealthy countries, which have largely dispossessed their indigenous peoples (such as Canada and the USA, Australia and New Zealand).

Slavery
In some areas, tribal people are still held in a form of slavery, called ‘debt-bondage’, where they are forced to produce raw materials to pay a supposed debt to an outsider.

Racism
The view that tribal people are ‘primitive’ and not able to make rational choices about their own future derives from a colonialist, racist ideology. It is still used to justify their dispossession.

Land theft
Tribal peoples are generally self-sufficient and dependent on their land to provide their food and support their way of life. It also forms the bedrock of their identity. It is stolen for ‘development’, such as mining, dam-building, farming, etc., as well as for ‘conservation’ projects.

Resource theft
Even where the land itself isn’t taken, its resources often are. These can be timber or minerals.

Forced progress
All peoples are changing all the time, but changes forced on tribal peoples in the name of ‘progress’ result in a far lower quality of life than before, with increased illness, suicide, imprisonment, substance abuse and dependence etc. Changes should be under the control of the people themselves.

Survival focuses on the most vulnerable tribal peoples, those who have the most to lose. These are usually those less able to articulate their own views, and the least contacted by, or ‘integrated’ into, wider society. They often face complete destruction from disease and land theft.

We choose specific cases according to defined criteria, such as the urgency of the situation. Other criteria include a serious threat to the people’s lives or livelihoods, and a small, more vulnerable, population.

Cases lead to campaigns with clear objectives, such as securing communal land rights. Most campaigns last for decades.

We place the issue repeatedly in the widest possible media (newspapers/TV/radio/web etc.) exposing the violations, and asking people to voice their support.

We monitor the media and counter false and damaging stereotypes which portray tribes as ‘backward’ and ‘primitive’.

We support legal work to ensure tribes are expertly represented.

We produce educational materials for schools and the public, showing who tribal peoples really are and how they live.

We fund medical and self-help projects directly with tribal people.

We publicize the thoughts and voices of tribal peoples and consider them our partners.

We provide a platform for tribal representatives to talk directly to an international audience.

We help tribal representatives talk face-to-face with companies and organizations violating their rights.

We do not claim to represent tribal peoples, unless they ask us to.

We investigate the atrocities committed against tribal peoples.

We are in direct, personal contact with hundreds of tribal organizations and communities (as well as many others) which give us information. These contacts are, where possible, fostered by extensive field visits which have continued for over 40 years. In some areas, we do not publicize these to avoid reprisals.

We expose the situation, telling the public what’s going on and focusing their concern into action which brings results.

Cases lead to campaigns with clear objectives, especially securing communal land rights.

We use the widest possible media (TV/radio/newspaper/web), circulating new material on a daily basis. We also publish our own books and reports, mostly aimed at the non-specialist, and make our own films.

We lobby governments, companies, missionary organizations etc.
We hold vigils and peaceful protests at embassies and corporations. In over 40 years of these activities, there has never been any violence.

Our supporters write directly to those violating tribal peoples’ rights.

We present cases to the United Nations and other international forums.

We speak at schools, universities, conferences etc.

We run a photographic library.

Our resources are allocated to our educational, research and outreach work, with very little spent on administration. We do not claim that most of our money goes to tribal peoples themselves, it doesn’t.

We manage special funds where every cent raised goes to tribal peoples’ own projects.

Our accounts are audited to the highest standards; a summary is published in our annual review.

How can you help?

Does it work?

Who agrees with us?