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Press Release
May 21, 2002
WORL HONORED BY INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
Dr. Rosita Worl of Juneau was one of two recipients of the first human rights
awards given by Cultural Survival, an international organization based in
Cambridge, Mass. that promotes human rights, voices and visions of indigenous
peoples.
The group singled out Worl because she has spent her life fighting for the rights of Alaska Natives, said David Maybury-Lewis, president and co-founder of Cultural Survival.
"There are not too many Native Americans who have a Ph.D. in anthropology from Harvard – Rosita does," Maybury-Lewis said. "But it’s not just the fact she is prominent. It’s the fact she’s used her prominence on behalf of her people in Alaska."
The group also gave an award to James Anaya, an Arizona author and attorney who successfully litigated the landmark indigenous land rights case of Awas Tingni v. Nicaragua before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The awards banquet, attended by United Nations dignitaries, was held May 17 at Harvard University and marked the first time Cultural Survival has given awards in the group’s 30-year history.
Worl, a Tlingit, is president of Sealaska Heritage Institute, which administers cultural and educational programs for Sealaska Corp. She also serves on the boards of the Alaska Federation of Natives, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American Indians, Cultural Survival and Sealaska. She is a vocal proponent of subsistence rights in Alaska.
CONTACT: Dr. Ian McIntosh, Director of Cultural Survival, 215 Prospect Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 (617) 441-5410.