Women Leading Efforts to Uphold Indigenous Rights, Sovereignty, and Due Diligence with Financial Institutions and Corporations

From the frontlines of extractive projects, the

Women Leading Efforts to Uphold Indigenous Rights, Sovereignty, and Due Diligence with Financial Institutions and Corporations

From the frontlines of extractive projects, the boardrooms of financial institutions, to the halls of governments, Indigenous women are leading efforts to uphold Indigenous rights and sovereignty, including the right of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).

During the event, Indigenous women leaders and global advocates discussed how financial institutions and corporations perpetuate human and Indigenous rights violations in relation to extractive and other industries and the necessary steps these institutions must take to stop these egregious activities— and instead, implement FPIC, Indigenous rights and due diligence, while also investing in solutions within a climate justice framework centering Traditional Ecological Knowledge.

Additionally, given the severity of the climate crisis and existential threat to all of humanity, it is important to highlight that 80% of biodiversity remaining on Earth is in Indigenous lands and territories. Respecting Indigenous knowledge, ways of life, and FPIC, and the right to say “no” to continued extraction, is thus paramount to the discussion.

This was a formal side-event of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 2022.

Speakers included:
-- Michelle Cook (Dine’/Navajo), Human rights lawyer and founder of Divest Invest Protect and Indigenous Human Rights Defenders and Corporate Accountability Program

-- Summer Blaze Aubrey (Citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a Descendant of the Blackfeet Nation), Law Fellow, Indigenous Human Rights Defenders & Corporate Accountability Program and Staff Attorney for the International Indian Treaty Council

-- Leila Salazar-Lopez, Executive Director of Amazon Watch

-- Sônia Guajajara (Guajajara), Executive Coordinator for Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil (APIB)

-- Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member

-- Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN)

-- Special Guest: Maria Violet Medina Quiscue (Nasa), Autoridades Indigenas en Bakata, Colombia with Xiomara Chingate

Indigenous Women from the Amazon: Calls for Urgent Action - COP27 Press Conference

Indigenous organizations and communities, led by women, are mobilizing locally and globally to

Indigenous Women from the Amazon: Calls for Urgent Action - COP27 Press Conference

Indigenous organizations and communities, led by women, are mobilizing locally and globally to protect and defend their communities and territories from governments and corporations that continue to violate Indigenous and human rights, and push forward extractive projects that harm local ecosystems and put communities at risk.

During this press conference, Indigenous women from the Amazon Basin and Brazil brought forth calls to action for Indigenous rights and protection of forests, water, communities, and the global climate.

Speakers included:
--- Sônia Bone Guajajara (Guajajara), Indigenous Leader from Brazil, Federal Deputy of the National Congress of Brazil, Brazil
--- Patricia Gualinga (Kichwa), Spokeswoman for Mujeres Amazónicas Defensoras de la Selva (Amazon Women in Defense of the Jungle), Sarayaku, Ecuador
--- Helena Gualinga (Kichwa), Indigenous Youth Climate Leader, Sarayaku, Ecuador
--- Taily Terena (Terena), Indigenous Rights Activist, WECAN Coordinator in Brazil, Brazil

Indigenous Women Upholding Indigenous Rights and Knowledge, and Leading Climate Solutions

During this UNPFII side event we hear from global Indigenous women leaders on the impacts of

Indigenous Women Upholding Indigenous Rights and Knowledge, and Leading Climate Solutions

During this UNPFII side event we hear from global Indigenous women leaders on the impacts of fossil fuels, deforestation, and the climate crisis in their communities and how they are implementing solutions, practicing traditional knowledge systems, upholding Indigenous rights, and advancing policies and practices of care and climate justice.

Panel ONE
-- Ruth �chav’aya K’isen Miller (Curyung Tribe of Dena’ina Athabaskan) | Indigenous Climate Activist, Turtle Island, USA
-- Yasso Kanti Bhattachan (Thakali) | Founding Member and the Vice Chair of the National Indigenous Women’s Forum (NIWF), Nepal
-- Claire Charlo ( Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes)| Indigenous Feminisms Organizer, Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), Turtle Island/USA
-- Xiye Bastida (Otomi-Toltec)| Co-founder and Board, Re-earth Initiative, USA

Panel TWO
-- Josefina Tunki (Shuar) | First woman president of the Shuar Arutam organization (PSHA)
-- President Whitney Gravelle (Bay Mills Indian Community) | President and Executive Council Bay Mills Indian Community, Chair of the Department of Interior’s Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee and Commissioner on the Michigan Advisory Council on Environmental Justice, Turtle Island/USA
-- Michelle Woodhouse (Métis) | Water Program Manager, Environmental Defence, Canada
-- Majo Andrade Cerda (Kichwa) | Young leader of the Kichwa People of Napo, Land is Life’s Latin America Program Assistant, Ecuador
Panel moderation and comments by Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director

Oct 17, 2016

Chief Arvol Looking Horse’s lecture on water crisis, environmental justice, and unity will break the surface of the numerous perturbing issues affecting the Native

Oct 17, 2016

Chief Arvol Looking Horse’s lecture on water crisis, environmental justice, and unity will break the surface of the numerous perturbing issues affecting the Native American community that have been unrecognized and disregarded for centuries.

As the 19th Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe and Bundle, Chief Looking Horse was the youngest to have been given this responsibility in history at only twelve years old. Also the spiritual leader of the Lakota Nation of South Dakota and all three branches of the Sioux tribe, he has dedicated his life to “letting the world know how beautiful [their] way of life is”. The intensifying suppression of his people’s spiritual preferences is what has encouraged Chief Looking Horse to fight for the religious freedom, cultural survival, and revival for Native Americans across the country and restore pride to their lands. He met with the Dalai Lama in 1995 to establish a relationship between Tibet and the Lakota Nation, and has lectured at many reputable universities, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and UCLA. Chief Looking Horse is also the author of White Buffalo Teachings and columnist for Indian Country Today, as well as the founder of the Big Foot Riders in memory of the massacre at Wounded Knee. He has won many awards, such as the Juliet Hollister Award from the Temple of Understanding and the Canadian Wolf Award.

Chief Arvol Looking Horse is the 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, and Spiritual Leader of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Oyate, known as the Great Sioux Nation. He has

Chief Arvol Looking Horse is the 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, and Spiritual Leader of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Oyate, known as the Great Sioux Nation. He has worked to reconcile traditional healing and western medicine since the 1970s, and admits it is still a struggle.

This is a brief story of the Pipe as included in the National Geographic special, Story of God narrated by Morgan Freeman.

In her work, Kahea often wonders, "As we face the climate crisis head-on, what role does Indigenous knowledge play in effectively building a sustainable future?" She believes the answer lies in

In her work, Kahea often wonders, "As we face the climate crisis head-on, what role does Indigenous knowledge play in effectively building a sustainable future?" She believes the answer lies in rooting our solutions in the time-tested wisdom of those who came before us to create a future in which both people and the planet not only survive but flourish. Kahea Pacheco (Kanaka 'Ã…Å’iwi) is a passionate advocate for Indigenous people’s rights and climate justice that puts aloha ʻ�ina—love of the land—at the heart of solutions. She is a Co-Executive Director at Women’s Earth Alliance, a 19-year global initiative that empowers women’s leadership to protect the environment, end the climate crisis, and ensure a just, thriving world. In her work, Kahea often wonders, "As we face the climate crisis head-on, what role does Indigenous knowledge play in effectively building a sustainable future?" She believes the answer lies in rooting our solutions in the time-tested wisdom of those who came before us to create a future in which both people and the planet not only survive but flourish. “In ʻŌlelo Hawai’i, ʻ�ina is our word for land and means ‘that which feeds us.’ It was also the word my ancestors used for family. This reminds us that the natural world is alive—living, breathing, and nurturing us. Everything we see is a member of our family.” This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Returning to open this year’s conference, one of the leading figures in the East Bay Indigenous community and a longtime activist for First People’s rights and the protection of land

Returning to open this year’s conference, one of the leading figures in the East Bay Indigenous community and a longtime activist for First People’s rights and the protection of land and waters globally, Corrina Gould, will focus on the concept and practice of “Rematriation,” which involves reclaiming traditional land and sacred sites to help rebuild traditional cultures and heal the deep wounds inflicted by colonization and genocide and also prioritizes the unique role women play in that enormous undertaking.

Corrina Gould, born and raised in the village of Huichin (now known as Oakland CA), is the Tribal Chair for the Confederated Villages of Lisjan Nation and co-founded and is the Lead Organizer for Indian People Organizing for Change, a small Native-run organization; as well as of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, an urban Indigenous women-led organization within her ancestral territory. Through the practices of “rematriation,” cultural revitalization and land restoration, the Land Trust calls on Native and non-Native peoples to heal and transform legacies of colonization and genocide and to do the work our ancestors and future generations are calling us to do.

This keynote talk was delivered at the 2024 Bioneers Conference. To see more conference talks visit https://www.bioneers.org