The estimated 350 million Indigenous Peoples of the world are facing serious challenges in the rapidly developing society. They are struggling for their very existence in expanding global economy that often instead of embracing the cultural diversity is rather homogenizing cultural expressions into uniform commodities. The gradual creation of Information Society during the last 30 years is a further challenge but also an opportunity for Indigenous Peoples worldwide.

Information has become one of the shaping forces of the post-modern society. Indeed, 1960's media researcher Marshall McLuhan's prophetic words of "Global Village" have partly come true in the form of the Internet and other Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) that are escaping the limitations of time as well as of geographical limitations of the globe. At the same time these information and communication tools are providing an enormous opportunity for cultural expression as never before.

In our mediatized society the key to entertaining, reaching, warning, involving and informing people is through media be it traditional media like telephone, radio, TV and newspaper or the cyber media like the Internet already mentioned. The access to Internet for example provides a way to create local content that is not only linguistically but also culturally relevant not only for its creator but also to his peers and like this confirm the cultural identity of the whole community. Especially for Indigenous Peoples cultural self-expression through different media can reaffirm their cultural identities and continuity of their cultures.

However, as expressed in the Indigenous Position Paper for the World Summit on the Information Society:

ICT use cannot replace the traditional methods for transmission of Indigenous knowledge, cultural heritage and identity from generation to generation, but could become a useful supplementary tool, if applied in a culturally appropriate way. There is a need to develop culturally appropriate ICT applications and content that also reflects Indigenous modes of communication

Indigenous Caucus at work during the Tunis Phase of the WSIS

Indigenous Caucus at work during the Tunis Phase of the WSIS

Community Radio Flor del Café in Yepocapa, Guatemala