Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations welcomes International Funders for Indigenous Peoples 9th Annual Conference May 15-17

TOFINO, British Columbia—The stunning homelands of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations in pristine Tofino on Vancouver Island is site to the 9th Annual International Funders for Indigenous Peoples conference May 15-17.

“We are pleased to meet in British Columbia’s coastal region with its unparalleled beauty, rich biological diversity, and vibrant culture of Indigenous Peoples,” said IFIP’s executive director Evelyn Arce.

The conference—Building and Sustaining Coalitions: Finding Common Ground for Education, Environment and Human Rights Advocacy—will draw donors and grantmakers from throughout the U.S. and Canada, and Indigenous participants from around the world. Tla-o-qui-aht, a Nuu-chah-nulth peoples will greet IFIP with traditional blessings in hand carved canoes. The conference features “Meet the Author,” and “Meet the Artist” events, film screenings, a Tla-o-qui-aht-hosted traditional salmon dinner, and a special celebration in honor of IFIP’s 10th birthday. There are post tour options May 18-22.

This year’s prestigious Annual IFIP Awards Celebration will honor The Sidney Myer Fund and The Myer Foundation in recognition of their outstanding progress towards improving Indigenous education and well-being and support for better natural resource management in Australia.

Among this year’s speakers are Julio Cusurichi Palacios, Shipibo-Conibo nation from the Amazonian region of Madre de Dios, Peru; Ross McMillan, President and CEO of Tides Canada Foundation; Gary Martin, Executive Director of the Global Diversity Fund in the U.K.; Valerie Segrest, Muckleshoot Indian Tribe; Florina Lopez, Panama Kuna and Coordinator of the Indigenous Women’s Biodiversity Network of Abya Yala; Dan Smith, Laich-Kwil-Tach First Nation, Vancouver Island; Peter Brand, FirstVoices Coordinator; Gathuru Mburu, founding Director of the Institute for Culture and Ecology; and Dan Shine, President of the 50X15 Foundation.

Sessions explore the UNDRIP in policy and funding decision-making; community voices from Russia and Canada building Indigenous and environmental partnerships; accessing the digital divide to gain ground on culture, education and language preservation; remembering our past, reclaiming our future—innovative ways to integrating traditional knowledge and practices with present day community engagement—and a host of others.
IFIP is known for catalyzing thoughtful and engaged collaborations among participants.

This year, IFIP coordinated its event to run just after the International Congress of Ethnobiology in Tofino.

In choosing the conference locale, IFIP recognizes advances made by First Nations in Canada that serve as models to inspire other Indigenous Peoples around the world. “We wish to add our voice of encouragement to the Canadian government to adopt UNDRIP: the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2007,” said Arce. “It is the most comprehensive and advanced of international instruments dealing with Indigenous Peoples’ human rights. Only Canada, the US, and New Zealand have yet to ratify and approve it.

IFIP is an affinity group of the Council on Foundations dedicated to assembling international grant donors in support of Indigenous philanthropies and fostering funding partnerships to improve the lives of Indigenous people globally. IFIP accomplishes this by increasing knowledge and understanding of the unique issues faced by Indigenous Peoples by facilitating dialog among its grant-making members and between that membership and Indigenous communities. The Annual IFIP Conference is the largest vehicle bringing grant donors and Indigenous communities together for meaningful dialog and respectful interaction.

For more information contact Evelyn Arce, (518) 358–9500, or email: evelyn@internationalfunders.org. http://www.internationalfunders.org