The right to formal education is considered so sacrosanct that we fail to see how it can undermine our biocultural responsibilities. Chang Liu (劉長亭) . Language is our birthright. So much of what makes us human — how we perceive, think, and communicate — is encoded in language, be it spoken, sung, signed, or written.

Indigenous Peoples fight for their land rights to uphold their inherent responsibilities to the earth. WORDS Felipe Montoya, Gilbert González, Ana María Martínez, Julie Hard, and Mathieu Poirier | IMAGES Felipe Montoya . “Many people call her Mother Earth, but for us Bribri, she is the Girl Iriria. When Sibö made the Creation, he made

Felipe Montoya-Greenheck Southern Costa Rica is one of the country’s most biodiverse regions, with ecosystems ranging from the highest tropical alpine peaks and glacial lakes in the Talamanca mountain range, to the lowland rainforests and Pacific mangroves, with an endless network of streams and rivers forming the Great Terraba River watershed. The region is home

by Felipe Montoya-Greenheck Puriscal is a rural canton in the Province of San José, Costa Rica. It is located in the northern foothills of the Talamanca Mountain Range that divides the plains of the western Central Valley. Its capital, Santiago, was established in 1868. Before the colony, Puriscal and its surroundings were the territory of

by Felipe Montoya-Greenheck . Throughout history, peasants around the world have faced the threats of empire, urban expansion and the lure of urban opportunities, over-taxation, and both abandonment and persecution by the state. In our generation, they have also been confronted with dispossession by the corporate machinery, lubricated by neo-liberal international agreements favoring free trade.