Every year on August 9, and since 1994, UNESCO has commemorated the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. The United Nations has not yet adopted an official definition for the term 'Indigenous peoples,' but considers, for social recognition, self-identified non-dominant groups of society, with distinct language, culture, and beliefs, organized in separate social, economic, and political systems. From a territorial perspective, the UN understands the term through historical continuity with pre-colonial or pre-settler societies, and the group's strong links to territories and surrounding natural resources. The persistence in maintaining and reproducing ancestral environments and systems is also recognized as an element of identity, encompassing other designations such as first peoples/nations, aboriginals, or ethnic groups. Following the occasion's aim to raise awareness, in this article we present contemporary reflections, regional cases, and interviews about ancestral constructive knowledge and how it can build the future.
