Annual Report 2010 - Cultural Survival

Suzanne grew up in New Mexico. Her mother is Navajo
and her father Santa Clara Tewa. She was raised on the
Navajo Nation and at Santa Clara Pueblo. Growing up
Native, she is deeply aware of the issues and concerns
that face Native peoples and their environments. Her
interests in Indigenous Peoples all over the world have
led her to expand her thinking and work towards a
global framework for environmental justice and
Indigenous rights. “Development and the environmental
issues affect Indigenous peoples all over the world,”
she says. “At one time we understood and engaged the
issues specific to our own homelands; now, with globalization
and climate change, we have to understand and
engage these issues from a global framework more so
than in the past.
“I am incredibly honored to be able to lead a global
organization such as Cultural Survival and use my skills
and heart to help address Indigenous human rights and
environmental concerns in the world, which I am passionate
about. The work speaks to who I am as an
Indigenous person and to all of our cultural survival.”
Suzanne started her new position on January 31, 2011
and is splitting her time between the Boulder and
Cambridge offices of Cultural Survival.
ANNUAL REPORT 2010
Suzanne Benally
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