The Indigenous Dialogues Foundation (Indiĝenaj Dialogoj or ID) was an international project which sought to empower organisations of

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

worldwide to communicate directly, freely, and affordably, allowing them to more effectively work together for their common interests. ID provided

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

connectivity and taught courses in Esperanto as an international bridge language. Esperanto was chosen rather than a major national language such as

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

because it is nationally neutral and relatively easy to master, while still backed and proven by an existing infrastructure—over a century of

Esperanto culture Esperanto culture refers to the shared cultural experience of the Esperantujo, or Esperanto-speaking community. Despite being a constructed language, Esperanto has a history dating back to the late 19th century, and shared socio-cultural norms have ...

—and its surface similarities to major European languages facilitate the learning of regional and world languages such as English,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

, or

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

. Bessie Schadee and Sylvain Lelarge of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and José Carlos Morales of the Brunka (Boruca) people of Costa Rica started ID in 1998; two worldwide and five regional courses were held from 1999 to 2001, with representatives from over twenty peoples. ID was supported by a number of international organizations, banks, governments, and private individuals. The project also had close ties to

Universal Esperanto Association The Universal Esperanto Association ( eo, Universala Esperanto-Asocio, UEA), also known as the World Esperanto Association, is the largest international organization of Esperanto speakers, with 5501 individual members in 121 countries and 9215 th ...

in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The Dutch Ministry for Foreign Affairs monthly magazine "IS - International Samenwerking" (International Cooperation) dedicated almost an entire page of its October 1999 number to the project, Universal Esperanto Association wrote in a press release in October 1999. The article was titled "Esperanto Builds a Bridge Between Cultures," with the subtitle "A Course on Communication for Indigenous Peoples." It described ID's aims and reports on the first course with representatives of 18 peoples. At the end of the article Snam Stanley Iko from Papua New Guinea summed up ID's philosophy: "I believe that Esperanto can build bridges between people, because the world has a language problem. One person speaks this and the other speaks that, but we have to learn to understand each other and the world." In 2000 a long-awaited Dutch grant was not received. After this and other hardships the project finally ceased to exist in the year 2002.

See also