The UAN Secretariat comprises the Secretary-General and thousands of Indigenous professionals, knowledge keepers, and cultural practitioners who carry out the daily work of the UAN as mandated by the General Assembly and other principal bodies. This body operates under the Indigenous principle of servant leadership, where authority flows from responsibility to the community and accountability to ancestral wisdom.

The UAN Secretary-General serves as Chief Administrative Officer and Spiritual Guardian of the Organization, appointed by the UAN General Assembly upon recommendation of the Security Council. The UAN Secretary-General embodies the Organization’s sacred mission and serves as an advocate for all Indigenous peoples worldwide, especially those facing cultural extinction, territorial displacement, and ecological destruction.

UAN staff members are recruited from Indigenous communities globally, bringing diverse cultural perspectives, traditional knowledge, and ancestral languages to their work. They serve in cultural centers, traditional territories, and Indigenous communities worldwide, guided by the understanding that their work contributes to the survival and flourishing of Indigenous civilizations.

The UAN Secretariat operates through circular leadership models, consensus decision-making, and regular ceremony to maintain spiritual alignment with the UAN’s sacred mission of preserving ancestral wisdom for humanity’s collective healing and transformation.