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ABOUT

MISSION & HISTORY

TRIBES IN TRANSITION EDUCATION FUND (TTEF), a nonprofit organization, was established in 2008 to educate and raise awareness in support of Indigenous Peoples. TTEF supports the international traveling photography exhibition, DIGNITY: Tribes In Transition, which includes 60 black and white photographs from the book, DIGNITY, In Honor of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, by Dana Gluckstein. The art exhibition inspires and educates viewers on the urgent need for implementation of the recently adopted United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. International Press

DIGNITY helped create a turning point for President Obama to endorse the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in December 2010. The declaration was adopted by 144 countries in 2007 despite vetoes from the U.S., Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. The declaration is the most comprehensive global statement of the measures every government should enact to ensure the survival, dignity, and well-being of Indigenous Peoples around the world. DIGNITY supports the right of Indigenous Peoples to have meaningful control over their own lives, to maintain their distinct cultural identities, to live free from discrimination and the threat of genocide, and to have some secure access to the lands and resources essential to their well-being. TTEF works to increase awareness of the rights of Native American and Alaskan Native women to be safe and free from sexual violence.  In association with Amnesty International, TTEF advocates for the U.S. government to implement its Sexual Assault Protocols across Indian Health Service (IHS) centers to provide equal medical treatment, rape kits, counseling and justice for Indigenous women who have been raped and assaulted. Sign letter to IHS here.

In the summer of 2011, the United States sponsored the DIGNITY exhibition at the U.N. in Geneva, Switzerland. The opening night reception was hosted by the United States and coordinated with the fourth annual U.N. session of the Expert Mechanism of Indigenous Leaders. Gluckstein was the keynote speaker along with U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Mrs. Betty King, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs. Navanethem Pillay, and Director-General of the United Nations Office of Geneva, Mr. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The DIGNITY book was first published in 2010 in English and German. The second edition was published in 2020.

In January 2013, Gluckstein, President of TTEF, was invited to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland as a faculty member on the Arts and Culture panels. As one of twenty-five international artists selected, Gluckstein addressed many of the world’s leading stakeholders and change-makers on the theme of “improving the state of the world through the arts by shifting mindsets.” Exhibition Calendar
 
Please  DONATE NOW and support the international exhibition tour of DIGNITY.   All contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. TTEF is a 501 c3 project of the Creative Visions Foundation and both organizations are based in Los Angeles.


 

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