Eligibility
Applicant must be Indigenous (definition below) or a member of a local indigenous community.
The modern understanding of this term used and advanced by the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) is based on the following:
- Self-identification as indigenous peoples at the individual level and accepted by the community as their member
- Historical continuity with pre-colonial and/or pre-settler societies
- Strong link to territories and surrounding natural resources
- Distinct social, economic or political systems
- Distinct language, culture and beliefs
- Form non-dominant groups of society
- Resolve to maintain and reproduce their ancestral environments and systems as distinctive peoples and communities
For applicants who meet the above criteria, additional preference will be given to:
- Women
- Youth (18+)
- Exchange in the following regions: African Rift Valley, Central Asia & Turkey, Southwest U.S. & Northern Mexico, Northern Australia, and Melanesia
- First time traveler (or applying with an organization to support a first time traveler)