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Dear Friends and Allies,
From April 22 - 26 the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International is organizing a Delegation of Indigenous Women of the Americas to travel to New York City to advocate at
the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) Eighteenth Session and events and actions concurrent with the forum. We are also honored to be organizing and facilitating events and action with other Indigenous women leaders and close allies participating in the UNPFII.
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Indigenous Women Leaders from the Americas and allies outside of the United Nations in New York. Photo: Emily Arasim/WECAN International
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In different regions of the Americas, we are monitoring governments that are committing
gross violations of human rights, Indigenous sovereignty, and harms to
ecosystems
and our climate.
In the US, Trump recently signed two executive orders to bypass states' rights and make it easier to build oil and gas pipelines. In Canada, the government continues to withhold the true cost of the Trans Mountain Pipeline.
And in Brazil, newly elected President Bolsonaro is working with Big Oil to threaten the Amazon and Indigenous rights. We know that as extractive industry threats increase, human and nature rights are violated, and Indigenous women land defenders are under increased attack.
The UNPFII is a vital international forum for Indigenous women facing various violations; threats to their very survival; the destruction of their territories; and the effects these egregious actions have on communities, water, forests, and the global climate. The forum and parallel events are a key opportunity to have their voices, responses, and solutions heard by the public, media, and government representatives.
WECAN is as dedicated as ever to supporting frontline women at critical international events and advocacy opportunities, like the UNPFII, because we know that the leadership of Indigenous women is more essential now than ever as we face a compelling need for rapid transformative action and urgent implementation of policies and programs that support a healthy and just future.
To meet our international Delegation members and event speakers and learn more about the events and actions planned by WECAN and allied organizations, please scroll through our newsletter!
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We very much appreciate your support for our Delegation and advocacy efforts at the UNPFII!
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Please meet the WECAN International Indigenous
Women
of the Americas Delegation
Sônia Bone Guajajara
is a Brazilian Indigenous leader and Executive Coordinator for the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), she comes from the Araribóia Indigenous Land, of the Guajajara people. Sônia Guajajara graduated in Arts and Nursing, apart from being a specialist in Special Education by the State University of Maranhão. She was a candidate for Vice-President of Brazil in the 2018 Elections; Coordinator of the Organizations and Articulations of the Indigenous Peoples of Maranhão (COAPIMA) and of the Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB). In 2015, she received the Order of Cultural Merit from the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Culture. She will be accompanied by
Maria Paula,
Founder of the NGO "A Drop in the Ocean", and a Peace Ambassador in Brazil.
Michelle Cook J.D. (Diné/Navajo) is the Founder and Co-Director of the Divest Invest Protect program and campaign. She is an Indigenous human rights lawyer and a commissioner on the Navajo Human Rights Commission and is currently an SJD candidate at the University of Arizona's Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program. She is writing her dissertation on financial institutions, Indigenous people's human rights, gender, and Indigenous transnationalism. She has worked with the Water Protector Legal Collective, the on the ground legal team which provides legal services to those arrested at the Standing Rock encampment. She advocates for Indigenous human rights internationally.
María Xiomara Dorsey is a member of Idle No More SF Bay, Brazil Solidarity Network, and a signatory of the Indigenous Women of the America's Defending Mother Earth Treaty. María is working to see the Eagle and Condor prophecy come true and standing for a healthy, beautiful, free future for all people where we can drink out of every river. She says:
Mana patarandichina gruayuen kishpichina nao kanchi al pata
La tierra no se vende, con sangre se defiende
Do not sell the earth, defend her with your blood
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WECAN Events and Actions During the UNPFII
If you are in NYC, we hope you can join us at one or all of our events and actions. If you can't join us in person, please scroll down to see how you can join us online!
Indigenous Women of the Americas Protecting Mother Earth: Struggles and Climate Change Solutions, 2019
Tuesday April 23, 2019 | 5:00 - 8:00 PM EST
United Nations Church Center | 777 United Nations Plz, New York City
No UN pass required, open to the public | register HERE, registration requested but not required, thank you!
Outstanding Indigenous women presenters of North and South America will speak out against the environmentally and socially destructive activities and policies threatening their homelands and present the visions and strategies with which they are working to shape a healthy and equitable future for their communities and the Earth. Their diverse struggles and solutions will be contextualized within a frame of rapid climate change, fossil fuel extraction, attacks, and criminalization against Indigenous women land defenders, biologic and cultural diversity protection, changing destructive economic frameworks, forest protection, and community-led solutions - demonstrating why and how Indigenous women's leadership is central to the implementation of Indigenous rights, knowledge, and climate solutions, which are essential for the survival and well-being of us all.
This public event is being held in parallel to the UNPFII with the expressed purpose of ensuring that the vital voices of Indigenous women leaders are heard by the public, media, and government representatives during the formal UN processes.
Event Speakers:
- Betty Lyons (Onondaga Nation, Snipe Clan), President & Executive Director of the American Indian Law Alliance (AILA), Indigenous and environmental activist, and citizen of the Onondaga Nation, Turtle Island, USA.
- Sônia Bone Guajajara (Araribóia Indigenous Land of the Guajajara people), Executive Coordinator for the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), Brazil.
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Catalina Chumpi (Shuar), Coordinator of the Organization of Indigenous Women of Pastaza Province (COMNAP) and member of "Amazonian Women Defenders Against Extraction", Ecuadorian Amazon.
- With translation and comments by Leila Salazar Lopez, Executive Director of Amazon Watch.
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LaDonna Brave Bull Allard (Lakota),
Historian, member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and founder/landowner of Sacred Stone Camp, Turtle Island, USA.
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Michelle Cook
(Diné/Navajo), Founder and Co-Director of the Divest Invest Protect campaign, human rights lawyer and a commissioner on the Navajo Human Rights Commission, Turtle Island, USA.
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Melina Laboucan-Massimo (Lubicon Cree First Nation),
Just Transition Director, Indigenous Climate Action, Turtle Island, Canada.
Special thanks to Climate Mama for their support of this event!
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Stand with Indigenous Peoples of Brazil and the Amazon:
Rally and Petition Delivery
Tuesday, April 23, 2019 | 1:00 - 2:30PM EST
Permanent Mission of Brazil | 747 3rd Ave, New York City
Learn more about the event HERE.
Indigenous leaders from Brazil and allies will converge in action at the Permanent Mission of Brazil to raise our voices in awareness building and to show our solidarity with the Indigenous resistance and "Terra Livre", the national Indigenous mobilization in Brazil.
Brazil's Indigenous peoples are under increasing attack with newly elected President Bolsonaro and his regime's devastating assaults on social and environmental protections. Indigenous organizations in Brazil are mobilizing locally and globally to protect and defend their communities, the Amazon rainforest, and the global climate.
As threats increase, women land defenders are harmed first and worse. this is a critical time to stand with courageous Indigenous women leaders in Brazil, like Sônia Bone Guajajara, who are fighting every day to protect human rights, forests, water, climate, communities, and future generations.
The Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB) and the Articulation of Brazil's Indigenous Peoples (APIB) have written a collective petition to denounce Bolsonaro's egregious attacks on indigenous rights and territories, particularly in the Amazon.
They have called on all of us in the international community to stand with them in solidarity and resistance to demand that the Brazilian government reinstate fundamental human rights standards and protect the Amazon's ecological integrity. WECAN International is honored to collaborate with Amazon Watch to organize the rally and collect signatures, please join us in signing and sharing COIAB and APIB's petition.
The collected signatures will be delivered to representatives at the Permanent Mission of Brazil in New York City concurrent with a rally on the street at the Mission on April 23rd.
The featured speaker for this event is Sônia Bone Guajajara.
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Indigenous Women Land Defenders and allies at the 2018 UNPFII.
Photo: WECAN International
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Indigenous Women Land Defenders of the Americas: Protecting Forests, Climate, and Communities
Thursday April 25, 2019 | 12:15 - 1:45PM EST
UN FF-Building | 10th floor, 304 E 45th St, New York City
This is a formal WECAN UN Side Event and requires UN Accreditation. If you wish to attend and are not accredited, please contact osprey@wecaninternational.org and we may be able to provide a special invitation.
Across the Americas, Indigenous peoples are facing increasing threats to their lives, land, and cultures by industrial fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure. As the first and most impacted, women are at the forefront of resistance to the threats and in promoting the solutions needed to protect and defend Indigenous rights, traditional knowledge, forests, biodiversity, and the global climate on behalf of all life on Mother Earth. Indigenous women leaders of the North and South will share stories and solutions demonstrating how traditional knowledge guides their work as they challenge governments, corporations and big banks to stop destructive activities and promote indigenous-led solutions to uplift communities and stop the worst effects of climate change.
Event Speakers:
- Catalina Chumpi (Shuar), Coordinator of the Organization of Indigenous Women of Pastaza Province (COMNAP) and member of "Amazonian Women Defenders Against Extraction", Ecuadorian Amazon.
- With translation and comments by Leila Salazar Lopez, Executive Director of Amazon Watch.
- Eriel Derganger (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation), Executive Director, Indigenous Climate Action, long-time leader of climate justice and Indigenous rights, Turtle Island, Canada.
- Michelle Cook (Diné/Navajo), Founder and Co-Director of the Divest Invest Protect campaign, human rights lawyer and a commissioner on the Navajo Human Rights Commission, Turtle Island, USA.
- Melina Laboucan-Massimo (Lubicon Cree First Nation), Founder Lubicon Solar, host of the TV series "Power to the People," which documents renewable energy, food security, and eco-housing in Indigenous communities, Turtle Island, Canada.
- With event moderation and comments by Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of WECAN International.
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Co-Sponsored Events
Sônia Bone Guajajara, Executive Coordinator for the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) will be presenting at both of the following events, along with other prominent Indigenous leaders.
Indigenous Resistance and the Crisis of Mother Earth: Paths to Climate Justice
Monday April 22, 2019 | 6:15 PM - 8:15PM EST
The New School, Room UL 104 | 63 5th Ave, New York City
Learn more about the event HERE!
Forest Defenders: New Threats and New Responses
Tuesday, April 23, 2019 | 6:30 - 8:00PM EST
United Nations Secretariat, Conf. Rm 4 | 405 E 42nd St, New York City
This event requires formal UN Accreditation
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Thank you for the many ways you support our efforts!
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For the Earth and All Generations,
The WECAN International Team
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