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Posted 11/15/2025

Although globalization has brought the world together, it has also contributed to the loss of the diversity of indigenous peoples. Languages disappear, sacred art becomes commodified, and centuries of traditions may be lost forever. As global markets, media, and technology create uniform styles of living, many indigenous peoples feel pressured to let go of their identities.

Many of the youth can be found in cities, where they seek modern education but often end up adopting popular culture instead of traditional practices. According to UNESCO, a language dies every two weeks, taking with it the stories, songs, and worldviews that are unique to that culture.

In places like the Amazon, the industrial development and deforestation not only destroy the land but disrupt spiritual and communal practices associated with that land. Tourism can also turn traditions into commodities, reducing sacred dances or crafting to a performance for visitors. There are also reasons for hope. Indigenous activists have begun utilizing digital technologies to reclaim their stories. Through online archives, virtual museums, and language-learning apps, they are preserving their histories that were previously shared orally. Notably, the Māori culture in New Zealand has revitalized their language through digital education programs that remind the youth of their heritage.

Preserving these cultures is not just about nostalgia, but preserving human diversity and millennia of human wisdom regarding alternative ways of relating to one another and to nature. The discontinuation of social practices diminishes humanity's potential to reimagine alternative ways of being and socializing, understanding, or belonging; therefore it is an issue of all of humanity. To safeguard these practices, governments must provide support for indigenous leadership related to education, media representation, and protecting intellectual property rights.