Center for World Indigenous Studies
A Think Tank of Activist Scholars
The Center for World Indigenous Studies is an independent, Nonprofit 501 (c) 3 founded in 1979.
We are a global community of indigenous studies activists and scholars.
Advancing the rights and knowledge of Indigenous Peoples worldwide. Read our story.
For over 40 years, CWIS has been the leading indigenous peoples’ think tank ensuring that communities can safeguard their rights and resources.
Read here about the Center’s Program of Action to prevent and limit the effects of Covid-19
Indigenous groups are unquestionably “peoples” in every political, social, cultural and ethnological meaning of this term.
Engage in studies that are important to both your personal and professional life. Take one of our online courses, and support scholarships for youth. Click here to see our Courses.
This course will take you on a journey that begins with ancient beliefs and travels through historical perceptions to our current understanding of intelligence from the lens of indigenous peoples. Together, we visit several indigenous cultures around the globe, exploring histories and lifestyles, and immersing ourselves into how indigenous peoples define and perceive intelligence.
This course will outline the basic framework of what environmental justice (and injustice) is for Native nations in the U.S. With the story of Standing Rock and the #NoDapl movement as a foundational example.
This course recounts the history of Native women’s activism, examining ways that Native women changed the course of Indian country toward greater self-determination and female empowerment in Native communities.
