FAQs

Tribal peoples are those who have lived in tribal societies for many generations; they are usually the original inhabitants of the places they live in, or have at least lived there for hundreds if not thousands of years. They usually provide for themselves, living off the land by hunting, fishing, gathering or growing vegetables or keeping their own animals. They usually also have an extremely strong cultural, emotional and spiritual attachment to their land.

Tribal peoples are not necessarily the same as indigenous peoples.‘Indigenous peoples’ are all the original inhabitants of a country, but ‘tribal peoples’ are only those who live in distinct tribal societies. For instance, all Aborigines in Australia are ‘indigenous’, but only some still live in tribal societies and see themselves as tribal people.

Tribal peoples live in 60 countries around the world, and number over 150 million individuals. This is a huge number, equal to more than half of the population of the United States.

The loss of their land. Although their land ownership rights are recognized in international law, they are not properly respected anywhere in the world. Often their lands are invaded, by settlers, by businesses such as oil, mining or logging companies, by cattle ranchers, by private or government ‘development’ schemes such as road-building and dams, or for nature reserves and game parks. Disease usually follows such invasions. The loss of their land also makes tribal peoples less able to feed themselves and so to live a healthy life. In extreme cases, tribal people are killed or imprisoned to get them off their land. Behind such invasions and attacks lie greed and a racism which sees tribal peoples as ‘backward’ or ‘primitive’.

Survival estimates that there are over 100 uncontacted peoples in the world today. Many of these live in the Amazon, but there are also large numbers in Papua (Indonesia). In many cases, they may have had contact with outsiders in the past, and they may well have limited contact with other nearby tribes.

Survival helps tribal peoples defend their lives, protect their lands and determine their own futures.

Survival was founded in 1969, in response to reports of the atrocities being committed against Brazilian Indians.

Survival was founded in London, and still has its head office there. It also has offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, Madrid, Milan, Paris and San Francisco.

Survival is the only significant organization in its field which does not accept money from any government. Our supporters finance everything we do, and give Survival its powerful and independent voice.

Sign an online petition, take part in a letter writing campaign, volunteer for Survival, help to raise awareness of Survival in your local area – please see ‘Act Now’ to find out more.

Survival works through education, supporting tribal peoples’ own organizations and campaigns. Our educational work raises awareness of the existence and problems of tribal peoples and shows the public that tribal peoples are not primitive, but just live differently from other peoples.

We turn public attention onto governments and companies which are violating tribal peoples’ rights. Survival’s supporters write letters to those in power, and Survival ensures these cases attract press attention around the world. Survival believes that in the long-term, public opinion is the most effective force for change.

Yes. Over the years, Survival has persuaded governments to recognize tribal land ownership (for instance the land of the Nukak in Colombia), forced companies to pull out of harmful projects on tribal land (for instance, logging companies in the land of the Udege in Siberia) and helped achieve better recognition of tribal peoples’ situations and their rights around the world. But there is much still to do!

With about 150 million tribal people in the world, almost all of them facing severe problems, there is potentially an almost infinite work load for Survival. Our case selection is based on our ability to work effectively on any given case – this in turn depends on a wide range of criteria such as: the reliability and continuity of our information; the gravity of the situation they are facing; the degree to which we believe our work can make a real difference; the degree to which improvements in this area would have a knock on effect for others; whether any other organization is already working on the case; whether we are sure of what the people themselves want; and so on.

Survival does not run any projects overseas – we do fund some projects with tribal peoples, but these are run by the tribe itself. Survival bases its research on direct contact with the peoples with whom we work. In practical terms, this means that our own staff carry out extensive research in the field; we also have a large informal network of contacts, both tribal and non-tribal, permanently on the ground, with whom we are in constant contact. We do not, however, send any volunteers into the field, or sponsor any visitors other than our own staff. But we are always willing to hear from people with information about or high-quality photographs of tribal peoples, or those with relevant interests and experience who are keen to work for Survival.

Survival does not have any official work placement schemes, but we do offer unpaid internships from time to time. Please check our ‘Work for Survival’ page.

Please see the ‘Work for Survival’ page for current vacancies.