We hope you, your families and friends are staying safe and healthy. We know many are struggling in a variety of manners, some with lost jobs, no home to shelter in place, have lost loved ones or are caring for others. We send you our deepest love and care. We also continue to deeply appreciate and do all that we can for all those bravely working on the frontlines as nurses, grocery store workers, farmers, doctors, and so many more that are caring for our communities—and often without the personal protective gear they need and deserve.
Since our last newsletter, where we discussed in depth
our response
to the double crises of the coronavirus pandemic and climate chaos, WECAN International continues to work steadfastly on our programs and campaigns in this epic time of peril, and yet, potential promise.
We are keenly aware of disaster capitalism now playing out, and how governments and corporations take advantage of multiple crises to garner more power and wealth,
instead of helping people and planet. Yet, while we work ceaselessly to dismantle unjust systems, this is also the time to boldly shape the world we have been collectively working toward for years. Please read through this newsletter for many ways you can join us in taking action.
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WECAN Advocacy & Solutions Series:
A Just and Healthy World is Possible
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As we face the double crises of COVID-19 and climate disruption, and with much of the world in lockdown, there is a crack, an opening, in the system where we have the possibility to shape a new world, and dismantle the detrimental, institutionalized systems of patriarchy, colonization, racism, and predator capitalism that lie at the root of our perilous predicament.
To build a foundation for deep systemic change, which is necessary at this moment to care for our communities and the Earth, it is vital to uplift and amplify women's unique leadership, Indigenous cultural and ecological knowledge, as well as the deep political analysis of all historically marginalized frontline communities and justice movements, while we continue to challenge corporate power.
The same ideologies and behaviors that led to COVID-19, climate chaos, and environmental degradation display a human relationship with Nature that is devastatingly out of balance. To address this profound moment in time, the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network has launched,
“A Just and Healthy World is Possible: WECAN Advocacy and Solutions Series,”
an ongoing webinar program lifting up women's leadership to support next steps as we continue to collectively build a powerful movement founded on principles of justice, love, and a fierce dedication to our planet and each other.
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We held our first webinar in the series on March 25, "Caring for Our Communities:
COVID-19 and our Health, Connections to Climate Preparedness, and Systemic Change", where frontline women practictioners and advocates shared best practices for caring for ourselves and communities, while providing political and cultural analysis. Speakers included
Rupa Marya, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at UCSF;
Linda Black Elk (Catawba Nation), Director of Food Sovereignty Programs at United Tribes Technical College;
Jacqui Patterson, Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program; and
Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of WECAN International.
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To live in a healthy and just world, we must fundamentally change how we respect and interact with the Earth and each other. During the series, we will offer opportunities to participate in immediate solutions and actions, deepen political analysis, learn from and uplift frontline women's leadership, gain understanding of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, exchange movement information, and address the climate crisis through a feminist lens. Topics will include forest and biodiversity protection, Indigenous rights, self-care and healing practices, agro-ecology and home-permaculture, fossil fuel resistance, divestment and a just transition, feminist economics, protection of women land defenders, rights of nature, decentralized/democratized energy grids, deepening our connection to nature, and more.
We are at a turning point, and it is now more than ever that we must strengthen our commitment to the vision and world we seek — together. While we can’t physically be together, there is a lot we can do by connecting digitally to ensure the acceleration of a global feminist movement for the protection and defense of the Earth’s diverse ecosystems and communities — all are welcome, please join us!
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April 14 and April 16 Upcoming Two-Part Webinar:
“Indigenous Women on the Frontlines”
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Indigenous women across the Americas, Turtle Island continue to work diligently to protect their communities from the novel coronavirus, while also addressing ongoing issues of extraction, colonization, Indigenous rights, pipelines in their territories and violence against women. During this two part webinar program, as part of our WECAN Advocacy and Solutions Series, outstanding Indigenous women leaders of North and South America will speak out against the environmentally and socially destructive activities and policies threatening their homelands, which are also exacerbating COVID-19 outbreaks in their communities. These discussions take place in the context of governments and corporations seeking to profit off the coronavirus pandemic by continuing further attacks on Indigenous peoples and rights, and the destruction of biodiverse ecosystems, stewarded by Indigenous communities.
Indigenous women are vital defenders of the living Earth, and they are standing up to protect human rights, Indigenous sovereignty, healthy communities, cultural knowledge, biodiverse ecosystems, water, forests, and our climate. This is a critical time to stand with courageous Indigenous women leaders, support their calls to action, and to learn from their resistance efforts as well as their essential healing knowledge, and how to make our way through these times and reconnect with Nature.
Please see more details below about these two upcoming webinars! To ensure the safety and security of our participants and speakers we ask that you register for each of the webinars at the links below. If you need support registering or have any questions, be welcome to reach out to
katherine@wecaninternational.org.
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Indigenous Women of North America, Turtle Island on the Frontlines: COVID-19 and Fossil Fuel Resistance
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
1:00pm PT/4:00pm ET USA Time
**Please check your own time zones to participate**
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At this moment, Indigenous communities are experiencing the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, while also facing ongoing fossil fuel extraction and pipeline struggles. Across North America, Turtle Island, tribes, as well as communities of color,
are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 due to a lack of resources and health disparities brought on by centuries of colonial policies and environmental racism. As Indigenous communities come together to protect those most vulnerable, governments and fossil fuel companies are grossly taking advantage of this time to push forward with pipelines and extractive projects that will only further exacerbate the issues Indigenous communities are already facing.
During the webinar, Indigenous women leaders will discuss how COVID-19 is impacting their communities and how oil and gas pipelines are being fast-tracked in their lands— violating Indigenous rights and further putting Indigenous women at risk. In this wide-ranging discussion, presenters will share calls to action, stories and wisdom, immediate needs of their communities, community-care practices, and the latest updates from various campaigns and resistance movements, focusing on Keystone XL, Line 3 and Coastal GasLink pipelines, and tar sands extraction.
Share this event with your networks via Facebook here.
Speakers include
Freda Huson (Chief Howihkat), Unist’ot’en – Wet’suwet’en People, Leader and spokesperson for the Unist’ot’en camps resisting the Coastal GasLink Pipeline;
Faith Spotted Eagle (Tunkan Inajin Win), Dakota and Nakota Nations within the Oceti Sakowinan, Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines Resistance Leader;
Tara Houska, Couchiching First Nation Anishinaabe, Tribal Attorney and Founder of Giniw Collective, Line 3 pipeline Resistance Leader; and
Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action, Tar Sands extraction Resistance Leader. Moderation and comments by
Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN).
Full bios can be found on our website.
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Indigenous Women of Brazil and Ecuador on the Frontlines:
COVID-19 and Defending Communities and the Amazon
Thursday, April 16, 2020
12:00pm PT/3:00pm ET USA Time
**Please check your own time zones to participate**
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During this webinar, Indigenous women leaders of the Ecuadorian and Brazilian Amazon will unite to discuss how the devastating coronavirus pandemic is impacting their communities, as they face ongoing deforestation, oil extraction, and Indigenous rights violations in their territories. As is the case across Turtle Island, Indigenous peoples of the Global South are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 due to a lack of resources and health disparities brought on by centuries of colonial policies and environmental racism. Indigenous women leaders will share their stories, analysis, wisdom, and advocacy for Indigenous rights, protection of forests, water, communities, and the global climate. They will also address the ongoing political and economic struggles affecting their Amazonian territories.
Scientists have stated that destroyed and diminishing natural habitats create the conditions for animal/human virus crossovers, such as COVID-19, and that further pandemics will emerge if we continue to exploit biodiverse regions, making it even more vital for us to stand with land defenders in the Amazon. We need to protect the Amazon because first and foremost, Indigenous peoples have the right to live their traditional ways in their own lands, and we must also understand that there is no protecting forests for climate mitigation and healthy global communities without standing in solidarity with the defenders of the land. We have much to learn from the women’s calls to action, their immediate needs, and their vision for living in respect and well-being with Mother Earth.
Share this event with your networks via Facebook here.
Speakers include
Patricia Gualinga, Kichwa leader from Sarayaku, Ecuador, Spokeswoman for Mujeres Amazónicas Defensoras de la Selva (Amazon Women in Defense of the Jungle);
Sônia Bone Guajajara, Indigenous leader from Brazil, Executive Coordinator for the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) with translation by
Maria Paula, Founder of the NGO “A Drop in the Ocean;
Daiara Tukano, Indigenous activist from Brazil, independent communicator and coordinator of Radio Yandê; and
Helena Gualinga, Kichwa youth activist from Sarayaku, Ecuador. Moderation and comments by
Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN).
Full bios can be found on our website here.
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Divestment and Just Transition Updates
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Since the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States, the Trump administration has been gravely undermining social and environmental protections, and working with corporations to take advantage of this crisis in a flurry of disaster capitalism actions—passing anti-protester bills, continuing pipeline construction in vulnerable communities, and providing trillions of dollars to bailout large corporations, with essentially no oversight.
Below are several of the actions WECAN is collectively engaged in to demand a halt to corporate bailouts and instead ensure that people and our planet are the top priority for economic and social support, as they should have been all along:
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“The U.S. government must not enable the fossil fuel industry to exploit the COVID-19 crisis to line their pockets as the American people face increasing impacts of dire health issues, shortages in medical equipment and protection, loss of jobs and loved ones. Now more than ever we need to address the double crises of the coronavirus pandemic and climate chaos by centering the needs of people and planet. It is reprehensible to offer fossil fuel company bailouts and allow for continued infrastructure development–
we cannot continue as we were. Bold economic transformation is necessary, and an immediate managed decline off of fossil fuels and a just transition for workers and care for the people. "
Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN)
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April 22 - 24: Join Earth Day Live!
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The coronavirus has laid bare the brutality and injustice of our current economic system. Millions of people have lost their jobs, are no longer able to pay their rent, student loans, credit card bills, utilities, or healthcare costs. Now when we need it most, we find our social safety net in tatters.
Normally, in response to a crisis we take to the streets — marching, holding rallies, planning actions, and so much more. We can’t do that now, but we can still organize to win.
This year, on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we are joining our movement allies and taking action online at a scale the climate movement has never done before.
On April 22-24, millions of people around the world are going online for a three-day mobilization to stop the climate emergency. Activists, performers, influencers, and thought leaders are coming together to host a 3-day digital event full of teach-ins, performances, and more.
WECAN International is supporting Earth Day Live through our organizing work with the Stop the Money Pipeline coalition. Please look for more information coming soon on how you can participate!
The global crisis we face right now is terrifying, but our best hope in moments like these is to work together. Let’s reimagine what a social movement can look like in the digital age.
RSVP to Earth Day live here!
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Sign the Petition: Stand with the Wet'suwet'en
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The Wet’suwet’en First Nation remains under attack. As governments call for people to "shelter in place" amidst the COVID-19 global pandemic, TCEnergy (formerly TransCanada) continues illegal construction on Indigenous land of the multi-billion dollar fossil fuel Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline.
Please join us in standing with the Wet'suwet'en and all Indigenous land defenders who are calling for the protection of their rights, sovereignty, and lands!
You can help by calling out the largest funders of the Coastal GasLink pipeline, JPMorgan Chase and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR). Their plans to invest in the pipeline aren’t final and there is still time to stop them.
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Sign the petition to protect Wet’suwet’en Indigenous Sovereignty: Demand U.S.-based fossil fuel profiteers JPMorgan Chase and KKR to stop financing the Coastal GasLink pipeline.
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WECAN Indigenous Women's Tongass Delegation Calls for Changes to Subsistence Regulations, and Protection of the Tongass Forest
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"We need to keep our Tongass National Forest Standing! Think about all of the other forests that have been destroyed and burned in Brazil and Australia. We must think about the future generations.”
Rebekah Sawers, Yupik, student and WECAN Tongass Representative
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On March 25, 2020, as part of our ongoing
Women For Forests program, a WECAN Indigenous Women’s Tongass Delegation participated in the Southeast Alaska Subsistence Regional Advisory Council (SERAC) in Alaska to advocate for changes in interpretation to and implementation of federal subsistence, land conservation, and environmental policies and regulations.
“Subsistence” practices are the cultural food assurance actions and methods derived from Traditional Ecological Knowledge and expertise created within well-established regions and territories across Alaska. SERAC reviews and evaluates proposals relating to subsistence uses of fish and wildlife within the Southeast region of Alaska, and also offers critique and feedback on federal regulations that may have an impact on subsistence users.
The Delegation attended the annual SERAC meeting via teleconference and submitted a proposal calling for systemic changes to federal subsistence policies and programs, including The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) and the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), to ensure and uphold Alaska Natives’ rights to protect, harvest, gather, and hunt in their traditional forest territories. The WECAN Delegates called for recognition of the leadership, innovation, and decision-making of Indigenous Women, and advocated for a delay in the current Roadless Rulemaking process regarding the Tongass Rainforest due to mismanagement and oversight by the U.S. Forest Service.
Read the full press release here.
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Thank you for all your support of WECAN during this time. Our team is feeling the impacts of COVID-19 and are working to stay safe while also maintaining our deep commitment to the vision and mission of WECAN to accelerate a global women's movement for the protection and defense of the Earth’s diverse ecosystems and communities.
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For the Earth and All Generations,
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The Women's Earth and Climate Action Network
(WECAN) International Team
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S T A Y C O N N E C T E D
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