International Funders for Indigenous Peoples (IFIP) would like to invite you to register today for our 9th Annual Conference from May 15th to May 17th 2010.

This years IFIP conference - for the first time - will be held in Canada.  It will be at the Best Western Tin-Wis Resort, on territory of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations, just outside Tofino, BC.  The conference is titled Building and Sustaining Coalitions: Finding Common Ground for Education, Environment and Human Rights Advocacy.  Click here for more information.

We hope that the conference thematic tracks will resonate with your passions and interests.  Specifically, we are pursuing 3 tracks:

1.  Transformative Education:  This track will examine ways to advance the aspirations and educational rights of Indigenous People, including the transmission of spiritual beliefs, culture, ways of being, identity with place, and language.

2.  Environment:  This track will explore the ways to support Indigenous communities in their long standing stewrdship practices as well as their efforts to cope with political and economic challenges their communities face in maintaining sustainable livelihoods, health, spirituality, food security, and sovereinty.

3.  Human Rights Advocacy:  This track examines ways to support Indigenous communities that are mobilizing to protect ancestral territories, defend livelihoods, and safeguard human rights.  Central to this track will be the understanding of provisions of the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and ways to apply its principles in funding decisions.

Additionally, we are planning a joint event with the Circle on Aboriginal Grantmaking in Canada, and several post site visits to the surrounding community and to Alberta's Tar Sands.