International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples 2027 is on Monday

About International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

This day asks governments and the public to recognize Indigenous Peoples as distinct peoples with their own languages, governance, ways of life and ties to their lands, territories and resources. The UN estimates that about 476 million Indigenous people live in some 90 countries. They are less than 6 percent of the world's population but at least 15 percent of its poorest people, and they speak most of the world's roughly 7,000 languages.

The UN General Assembly created the observance with resolution 49/214 of December 23, 1994, and set it on August 9 every year. The date recalls the first meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations, held in Geneva on that day in 1982. The day sits within a longer run of UN attention to the subject: 1993 was the International Year of the World's Indigenous Peoples, two International Decades followed (1995 to 2004 and 2005 to 2014), and 2022 to 2032 is the International Decade of Indigenous Languages.

The most important text behind the day is the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the General Assembly on September 13, 2007. Four states voted against it at the time, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, and 11 abstained. All four of those countries later changed their position and endorsed the declaration.

The UN sets a theme each year and holds a commemoration event in New York. The 2026 theme was "Honouring Indigenous Midwives: Safeguarding Life and Well-being," which looked at midwives as holders of traditional knowledge and at the barriers that keep their work out of formal health systems.

Sources: United Nations: International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, United Nations: Background on the day, UN DESA: United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Federal Register: Proclamation on Indigenous Peoples' Day, 2024. How we check dates.

How to mark International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

• Find out whose traditional lands you live on, and learn the history of that nation from its own sources.
• Read or watch work by Indigenous authors, journalists and filmmakers, and buy art and goods directly from Indigenous makers.
• Learn a few words of an Indigenous language spoken in your region, or support a language revitalization program.
• Watch the UN's annual commemoration event or read the Secretary-General's message for the day.
• Read the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ask your representatives how your country applies it.
• Support an Indigenous-led organization working on land rights, health, education or culture.

International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples dates