Organizations
and Opportunities for Indigenous Youth
Introduction
by Rebecca
Gonzales, MLIS candidate at the University of Texas at Austin.
April, 27, 2002
Introduction
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Indigenous youth are
subject to many social and economic factors that affect their likelihood
of happiness and success. There are many similarities in the experiences
of indigenous youth around the world. A shared history of privation from
land, disease, forced removal from culture and consequential weakening
of the family structure, traditional lifestyle, culture and language is
evident.(1) Programs have been developed to address problems (substance
abuse, depression, and high drop out rates) prevalent in indigenous communities.
Many Indigenous organizations have established activities such as camps,
training, exchanges, conferences, and cultural events to improve the status
of Indigenous youth and keep the Native culture alive.
This pathfinder was created to help Indigenous youth, parents, and educators
locate organizations and opportunities for Indigenous youth. I searched
for sources that are available free on the Internet. Youth for the purposes
of this resource is defined as people falling between the ages of 15-24
years. Opportunities include but are not limited to, programs in education,
job training, life skills, sports, and dance. This pathfinder is divided
into country regions; however I encourage you to explore all of the links
for exemplary organizations and programs in other communities.
I began my search with the Internet search engine Google, performing several
searches that included the words "indigenous youth opportunities",
"indigenous youth organizations" and "indigenous youth
programs". Selected sites were created or sponsored by non-profit
organizations (.org) and government sites (.gov) since these are generally
reliable. I looked for programs and projects from dependable commercial
pages (.com). Additional resources were located in link sections of several
organization sites.
1 United Nations
High Commission for Human Rights (2000). Indigenous Children and Youth.
Retrieved April 2, 2002, from the World Wide Web: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/racism/indileaflet9.doc
Introduction
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