Indigenous Spiritual Traditions and Biocultural Conservation

Freedom, human rights, and spirituality are not separate in Indigenous territories today. In North and South America—spiritual medicines such as Peyote and Yaje/Ayahuasca are a part of thousands of years of religious practice. Religious freedom is not separate from basic human rights and the responsibility and need for freedom to conserve sacred territories, biological heritage, and cultural knowledge that is part of the religious and spiritual diversity of our world. This session explores what is needed in the face of cultural appropriation, environmental extractivism, human rights violation, displacement, and climate change to ensure these Indigenous Spiritual traditions, key to our healthy future, are preserved.