A Cypher-Indigenous Manifesto acknowledges the importance of privacy and decentralized technologies for Indigenous Peoples and calls for a collective action with the international community to protect and expand their right to self-determination as stated in the United Nations Declaration of 2007 (UNDRIP).

1. A
Cypher-Indigenous
ManifestoThe Rights of Indigenous Peoples in
the Digital Era

2. A Cypher-Indigenous Manifesto
The Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the Digital Era
September 13, 2022
We, the indigenous peoples, in virtue of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
adopted by the General Assembly on 13 September 2007, have the right to self-determination.
By virtue of that right we freely determine our political status and freely pursue our economic,
social and cultural development and have the right to autonomy or self-government in
matters relating to our internal and local affairs, as well as ways and means for financing our
autonomous functions.
From this acknowledgment, and in order to preserve the integrity of these rights, and to maintain,
control, protect and develop our cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural
expressions, we claim that digital and decentralized technologies may be critical to protect
us, the indigenous peoples, from repression, extortion and intrusion, while preserving and
strengthening our traditions.
We admit that the digital realm tends to be an extension of the physical one, therefore the privacy,
autonomy and decentralization inherent to indigenous cultures must be extended into the
digital realm to preserve our integrity.
Privacy empowers us, the indigenous peoples, to express our right of self-determination, to
maintain, control, protect, develop our cultures and to preserve the autonomy of our
institutions from external actors who are not explicitly allowed to interfere with them.
Decentralized technologies empower us, the indigenous peoples, to integrate our cultural,
social, and economical institutions in the digital era as an extension and expansion of our
traditional institutions.
Therefore, we the indigenous peoples give our support to humans who protect and build
privacy and decentralized technologies fundamental to the preservation of our rights and,
by extension, to the freedom of all humanity.
This manifesto is a call to projects that want to help us protect and expand our rights in the
digital era. In this respect, we propose to work together in the creation of digital indigenous
institutions, opening beneficial reciprocity for the development of free and protective rights,
as stated in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, to provide global solutions
for planet Earth and all its inhabitants.
We, the indigenous peoples, are dedicated to the expansion of life, and we believe that it is
through the union of all our efforts, knowledge and technologies that we will find real solutions
for the preservation and evolution of humanity.
We, the indigenous peoples, see freedom as the expression of life itself, and now more than
ever, we must come together to protect its full expression as a legacy for future generations.
The United Peoples
By Oyxabaten Collective
Translation by Mycelia

3. I N T E R P R E T A T I O N
From the Oyxabaten & Mycelia Collective
A Cypher-Indigenous Manifesto acknowledges the importance of privacy and
decentralized technologies for Indigenous Peoples and calls for a collective action with
the international community to protect and expand their right to self-determination as
stated in the United Nations Declaration of 2007 (UNDRIP).
Note that A Cypher-Indigenous Manifesto can be interpreted in many ways, and this short paper
is only intended to give a first interpretation from the perspective of the Oyxabaten & Mycelia
Collective.
Why
Cypher
?
'Cypher' as mentioned in the title A Cypher-Indigenous Manifesto is a reference to the
importance of cryptography [1] and mathematics to defend the rights of Indigenous Peoples in
the digital era, especially their right to self-determination.
By labelling ‘Cypher’, the manifesto creates a link to the Cypherpunk Community [2] who
promotes the use of strong cryptography to defend the right to self-determination on the Internet
— a fundamental human right endangered by the increasing loss of sovereignty over our digital
tools, not only for Indigenous Peoples, but for all of us.
A Cypher-Indigenous Manifesto is also a direct reference to A Cypherpunk Manifesto
published by the renowned cypherpunk Eric Hughes on Mars 9, 1993.
In his manifesto, Hughes wrote that "privacy is the power to selectively reveal oneself to the
world". For Cypherpunk, privacy is fundamental to create an open and free society as it ensures
not only freedom of speech, but also freedom after speech, in the sense that privacy allows
each of us to decide when, where and how to reveal our unique expression to the world.
The need of strong cryptography for Indigenous Peoples are obvious when we know that they
have almost no power over how their culture is communicated on the Internet. In its current use,
the Internet is a new form of colonialism as it's often unilaterally imposed by third parties
who are not aligned with the indigenous mindset and this trend is accelerating with the
rise of AI. This means that the use of cryptography provided by the Cypherpunks is a
fundamental agent of autonomy, self-determination and cultural emancipation in the
digital age.
This is the reason why it is of the utmost importance for digital communities to use
cryptography and decentralised technologies, as they allow them to protect their diversity
and autonomy while belonging simultaneously to the global network of Internet citizens —
diversity within unity.
[1] Cryptography is ‘the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of
adversarial behaviour. More generally, cryptography is about constructing and analysing protocols that prevent
third parties from reading private messages. The Core concepts related to information security, data
confidentiality, data integrity, authentication, and non-repudiation' (source: Wikipedia).
[2] : 'A Cypherpunk is any individual advocating widespread use of strong cryptography and privacy-enhancing
technologies as a route to social and political change. Originally communicating through the Cypherpunks
electronic mailing list, informal groups aimed to achieve privacy and security through proactive use of
cryptography. Cypherpunks have been engaged in an active movement since at least the late 1980s’, (source:
Wikipedia).

4. Digital Indigenous Institutions
A Mycelia Proposition
Mycelia's objective is to enable and accelerate the creation of digital and decentralised
indigenous institutions based on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
(UNDRIP).
The UNDRIP is the most comprehensive international human rights instrument on
Indigenous Peoples. This declaration was adopted by an overwhelming majority at the United
Nations General Assembly on 13 September 2007 after more than 20 years of negotiations. The
UN Declaration does not create new rights but elaborates on existing ones that are enshrined in
various international human rights treaties and instruments, placing them in the context of
indigenous peoples’ realities.
A Cypher-Indigenous Manifesto is a continuum of this founding text, released the 13
September 13, 2022, exactly 15 years after the UNDRIP first adoption, as a symbol to expand the
rights of Indigenous Peoples into the digital realm, especially the right to self-determination.
Mycelia's mission is to articulate A Cypher-Indigenous Manifesto with the UNDRIP to open a
new realm for Indigenous Peoples and the digital economy. The vision is to build a clear and
open legal framework in which Indigenous Peoples can benefit from a new way of
approaching their own institutions while including the Web3 economy.
To succeed, Mycelia is willing to explore the creation of a digital indigenous jurisdiction
that could provide a new legal approach to the Web3 economy. Its role would be to create
a decentralised legal-framework for this emerging pool of innovators. In other terms, it would
allow any decentralised organizations (DAOs) in situation of jurisdiction arbitrage to
freely orientate their resources, talents, creativity, and economic forces towards a
legitimate, meaningful and legal framework.
By combining the UNDRIP with A Cypher-Indigenous Manifesto, we would unleash the full
potential of a new digital space based on wisdom and global coordination that gives
humanity and its technologies a coherent framework for preserving future generations -
the DNA for an open society.
Article 3:
Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination. By
virtue of that right they freely determine their political status
and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural
development.
Article 33:
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to determine their own
identity or membership in accordance with their customs and
traditions. This does not impair the right of indigenous
individuals to obtain citizenship of the States
in which they live.
2. Indigenous peoples have the right to determine the
structures and to select the membership of their institutions in
accordance with their own procedures.

5. S E C O N D
Connecting with the web3 community and global makers willing
to contribute to the emergence of new Indigenous Institutions
and an open jurisdiction for decentralised organisations.
R E Q U I R E M E N T S
V I S I O N
Mycelia's vision is really simple: directing capital and
attention towards new Indigenous Institutions that propose
an open and inclusive jurisdiction to the web3 economy. Only
powerful Indigenous Institutions will be able to protect future
generations and we will find the way to make it happen.
T H I R D
Convening all stakeholders and start building this new
ecosystem rooted in ancestral wisdom and universal values
to protect future generations.
Mycelia has identified three
requirements necessary to bring
this vision to life.
F I R S T
Bringing together Indigenous Leaders who are supporting
A Cypher-Indigenous Manifesto and want to defend the
right to self-determination of Indigenous Peoples in the
digital age;

6. Oyxabaten is an Indigenous Collective coming from
the reunion of rival historical tribes, the Brazilian ethnic
groups Paiter Surui and Cinta Larga. The collective is
focused on socio-environmental causes, illustration,
digital art and decentralised finance with goals of
recording culture, traditions and ancestral customs.
They created the 1st Cross-Cultural Indigenous World
Currency.
A
B
O
U
T
U
S
Mycelia is an ongoing Proof of Concept emerging
from the paper, 'Worldwide Indigenous Institutions -
A Seed from the Future'. Its unique objective is to
enable and accelerate the creation of global,
digital and decentralised indigenous institutions to
collectively manage our most precious public good
– future generations.

7. We are a collective of leaders, entrepreneurs,
innovators, and artists coming together to enable and
accelerate the creation of global, digital and
decentralised Indigenous Institutions in capacity to
protect the full expression of future generations and
collectively address the challenges of our times.
Together we become the answer.
Onward.