Latest / Stuff Mom Never Told You / Feminists Around the World: Helena Gualinga

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Feminists Around the World: Helena Gualinga · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Welcome to stuff. Mom never told you a production of
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  Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and y'all, I am back, but alas I am
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  Speaker 1: anyalst today as the podcast guys have decided to throw
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  Speaker 1: us another curveball and have any do her civic duty
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  Speaker 1: as a juror of what I would assume will be
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  Speaker 1: an intense and perhaps material filled trial for her to
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  Speaker 1: report back to us. Yes, as I will say, I
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  Speaker 1: am getting like some texts here and there, and though
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  Speaker 1: I'm not getting any super juicy details, it's obvious I
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  Speaker 1: think she misses us, just so you know. But until then,
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  Speaker 1: we are going to keep trucking and I or we
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  Speaker 1: maybe bring some fun guests along the way. She should
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  Speaker 1: be returning by the following week. And just in case
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  Speaker 1: you were trying to figure it out, yes, I'm recording
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  Speaker 1: on October eighth, twenty twenty four for Today's Feminist Around
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  Speaker 1: the World. Y'all again, Anie will return after she has
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  Speaker 1: completed her task of serving the state of Georgiah, and
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  Speaker 1: we wish her well and hope that she is doing
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  Speaker 1: okay mentally and physically, because we know this could be taxing,
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  Speaker 1: but you know, send her some well wish us y'all.
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  Speaker 1: But for today, I am talking about an amazing woman
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  Speaker 1: who has been officially working to advocate for her community
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  Speaker 1: as well as for us, and we are talking about
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  Speaker 1: indigenous Ecuadorian activists Elena Gualina. So this young activist is
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  Speaker 1: already a pro when it comes to advocacy and activism,
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  Speaker 1: and she comes from an amazing family of activists who've
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  Speaker 1: been influencing her and supporting her all the way. Her mother,
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  Speaker 1: Namiki Linga, is the former president of the indigenous group
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  Speaker 1: Quichwa Women's Association in Ecuador. Her sister Nina is also
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  Speaker 1: a pretty popular and well known environmental indigenous activist, and
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  Speaker 1: her aunt and her grandmother, Patricia and Christina, are well
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  Speaker 1: known within the women's and environmental rights activism in the
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  Speaker 1: Amazons themselves. So she has been watching from a very
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  Speaker 1: young age as her family fought against and was even
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  Speaker 1: persecuted and targeted by large corporations, oil corporations and even
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  Speaker 1: the government, and has watched as activists in their community
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  Speaker 1: get hurt or killed due to the violent conflicts against them.
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  Speaker 1: She's talked about her experience with the WBUR in a
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  Speaker 1: twenty nineteen article, and here's a bit from that quote.
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  Speaker 1: What got me into environmental activism was just living and
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  Speaker 1: growing up in the community. She says, I think that
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  Speaker 1: is activism. That's a sign of resistance. Oil companies have
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  Speaker 1: posted a threat to Wellllinga's community for as long as
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  Speaker 1: she can remember. She says, these companies often do not
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  Speaker 1: consult indigenous communities before in their territory. She says that's
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  Speaker 1: what happened to Sara Yaku her home. The Ecuadorian government
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  Speaker 1: supported oil companies and together they entered the indigenous territory
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  Speaker 1: along with military, she says, to protect their forests. She
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  Speaker 1: says the community had to stand up against these powers,
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  Speaker 1: and she's talked more about what got her started in
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  Speaker 1: advocacy work with Refinery twenty nine for their twenty twenty
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  Speaker 1: feature of her in their article titles Climate Advocate Alna Galinga,
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  Speaker 1: Climate change is not a gen Z issue, She says,
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  Speaker 1: My mom is from a community called Quichua Sara Yaku.
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  Speaker 1: Sara Yaku is a very small indigenous community in the
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  Speaker 1: Ecuadorian Amazon. There are about twelve hundred people there, and
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  Speaker 1: the year I was born, an oil company entered without
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  Speaker 1: my community's consent. So when I was growing up, I
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  Speaker 1: constantly saw all the things that happened to my people,
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  Speaker 1: to the people that said no. It was always part
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  Speaker 1: of my life that people were fighting for our communities.
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  Speaker 1: This was normal for me that someone was trying to
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  Speaker 1: take our home from us. So when I grew up
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  Speaker 1: and I realized that I have a voice, I have
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  Speaker 1: a platform that I can use. English is a very
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  Speaker 1: good tool to have to reach a lot of people.
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  Speaker 1: I think I owe this to my people. That's the
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  Speaker 1: least I can do to help my people, and her
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  Speaker 1: community has been working hard to advocate for their land
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  Speaker 1: and for their people. In fact, in twenty twelve, her
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  Speaker 1: community was able to win a court case against the
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  Speaker 1: Ecuadorian government, helping to establish the activists as a force
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  Speaker 1: to deal with. She talked to CNN in twenty twenty
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  Speaker 1: two a little bit about the significance of the case. Quote,
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  Speaker 1: the Sara Yaku case is a symbol of resistance throughout
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  Speaker 1: my childhood. The leaders of my community, many of whom
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  Speaker 1: our family, were violated, facing defamation, violence, torture, and criminalization
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  Speaker 1: of their defiance. It sparked rage in me and my community.
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  Speaker 1: But when Sara Yaku won, we showed the world that
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  Speaker 1: you can fight big oil because no political or economic
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  Speaker 1: force is powerful enough to exploit land when it's people unite.
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  Speaker 1: Our victory inspired other indigenous peoples protecting their lands and
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  Speaker 1: sends a powerful message to the companies and bank invested
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  Speaker 1: in projects that violate our rights, their time is up.
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  Speaker 1: And then she continues, after living in fear of losing
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  Speaker 1: our homes, my peers and I have followed in our
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  Speaker 1: elder's footsteps in defying the systems that uphold violence against
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  Speaker 1: people and nature. Last month, a youth gathering was held
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  Speaker 1: in Sarayaku, where indigenous youth from across the Ecuadorian and
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  Speaker 1: Peruvian Amazon gathered to discuss the future of our territories
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  Speaker 1: and reaffirm our commitment to protect Kawasaksatcha. Glinga has been
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  Speaker 1: working hard in her advocacy, becoming a spokesperson for her
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  Speaker 1: indigenous community, speaking at the COP twenty five and other
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  Speaker 1: UN events, but she's reluctant to use the word activists
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  Speaker 1: for herself. She explained in that same scene An article
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  Speaker 1: that her activism isn't a choice, but something that has
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  Speaker 1: become a part of indigenous culture, and she went on
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  Speaker 1: to explain why she thinks advocacy for the indigenous community
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  Speaker 1: and for the environment go hand in hand. She says,
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  Speaker 1: I don't identify as an activist because I do not
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  Speaker 1: believe we had a choice. Where I come from, most
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  Speaker 1: of the Amazonian indigenous population would be considered activists. If
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  Speaker 1: Sara Yaku did not put up a fight, our territory
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  Speaker 1: would have been destroyed. It's a matter of survival rather
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  Speaker 1: than acting out of choice. My region, Latin America is
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  Speaker 1: one of the most dangerous places for indigenous people and
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  Speaker 1: land defenders. Our life's work has been to protect our lands.
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  Speaker 1: Our existence is our resistance. The mere existence of people
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  Speaker 1: in the Amazon is what is securing the future of
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  Speaker 1: the Amazon. Does that make us activists know? It's simply
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  Speaker 1: part of who we are and where we come from.
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  Speaker 1: It's the defense mechanism of nature itself. And with that,
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  Speaker 1: she has talked at length about the need to have
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  Speaker 1: indigenous voices in conferences and talks about environmental changes and protections.
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  Speaker 1: She told CNN, our communities have been raising the alarm
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  Speaker 1: bell on the climate crisis as we see the changes
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  Speaker 1: to the environment firsthand. We are on the front lines
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  Speaker 1: of keeping fossil fuels in the ground as we work
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  Speaker 1: to defend our lands as a world is moving away
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  Speaker 1: from fossil fuels is now being replaced by the green
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  Speaker 1: indugery and industry. However, the transition to a green economy
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  Speaker 1: must ensure that it includes indigenous people in decision making
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  Speaker 1: and that it does not repeat the same colonists approach
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  Speaker 1: for the fossil fuels industry. However, the green inenergy industry
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  Speaker 1: is currently not adequately including indigenous people in decision making,
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  Speaker 1: and she goes on to say it's essential that the
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  Speaker 1: indigenous people not only have a say in climate negotiations,
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  Speaker 1: but the discussions are also led by indigenous people, so
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  Speaker 1: that all climate action is guided by climate justice. Indigenous
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  Speaker 1: people have tended ecosystems for thousands of years. The knowledge
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  Speaker 1: we have obtained interacting and coexisting with nature for years
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  Speaker 1: is essential to understand how we will restore and find
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  Speaker 1: balance between humans and nature. To understand this, let's look
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  Speaker 1: at the numbers. Indigenous peoples comprise less than five percent
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  Speaker 1: of the world's population, but we protect eighty percent of
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  Speaker 1: the the Earth's biodiversity in the forest, deserts, grasslands, and
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  Speaker 1: marine environments in which we have lived for centuries. Right,
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  Speaker 1: and she is making sure that she uses her platforms
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  Speaker 1: to continue to elevate Indigenous voices, trying to be a
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  Speaker 1: leader for climate justice because she has to. And in
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, she was featured in the documentary Helena
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  Speaker 1: Sara Yakumanta, documenting her life and activism. And also she's
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  Speaker 1: very much present on her social media using that as
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  Speaker 1: a platform to continue to spread her message. Yeah, she
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  Speaker 1: has done a lot of work. Her entire family has
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  Speaker 1: done so much work in order to protect their community,
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  Speaker 1: our community in the world in general. She is definitely
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  Speaker 1: still on the forefront and the news trying to get
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  Speaker 1: more awareness about what is happening, and has been a
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  Speaker 1: part of the UN as well as different festivals trying
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  Speaker 1: to spread her message. So definitely go and look her up.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: Ooh and with that, we miss you Annie. Thank you
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• 9:07
  Speaker 1: We've been doing these solo sessions a lot. It makes
• 9:09
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