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Indian Was the Name Used to Subjugate Us, Indian Is the Name by Which We Will Be Liberated
FROM THE EDITORS: During the October 2019 protests in Ecuador led by indigenous groups and social justice organizations, politicians made openly racist statements, replicated by the media and promoted by social networks, that deeply polarized the country. Below we share a clear response to racist comments made on a popular podcast, raising calls for inquiries…
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Singing Hip Hop in Native Languages to Reclaim Identities
Musical expressions are liberating and help build resilience. Some musical expressions have managed to unleash social change and others, to shape identities and resistance, but above all music is contributing significantly to keeping Native languages and expressions alive. Indigenous languages are living, active languages that grow and are renewed, for example, when young people take…
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“I Will Return and Become Millions” The Greatest Legacy of Tupak Amaru
Editors Note: This essay was originally published by Salvador Quishpe Lozano on October 12, 2019, as a call and response to the great repression suffered to the indigenous-led protests against IMF-sponsored neoliberal policies. It places the protests in a historical context of indigeous resistance. References have been added by Awasqa for English speakers. Today, October…
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Ecuador: Activists Hold Funeral, Seek Justice During Popular Assembly
In an unparalleled demonstration of resistance, defiance, and power, indigenous people in Ecuador held a popular assembly all day Thursday, October 10, to reject police/military repression to the protests that began eight days ago to pressure the Ecuadorian government to end FMI’s neoliberal economic policies tied to a US$4.2 billion fund. Repression was the norm…
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Indigenous nations in Ecuador declare “state of exception,” denounce neoliberal and extractivist policies on sovereign lands
In a stunning act of defiance, the largest indigenous organizations in Ecuador—CONAIE and CONFENIAE—declared a “state of exception” on sovereign indigenous lands, to reject military and policie presence on their terrorities and the right to detain such forces if they were to illegally enter or use repressive tactics on their lands. They did so after…
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"Our spears are no longer enough to protect our territory." Legal triumph of the Waorani people on oil exploitation in the Amazon
After years of struggle and resistance, the Waorani communities created a territorial mapping on the biodiversity of the region that comprises its territory, led by the community and organization in the field, the Waorani Peoples of Pastaza , who have joined together to defend their ancestral territory: the last areas free from oil extraction and…
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Indigenous Women Sing to Fight for the Amazon and for their Way of Life
It was 1973 when the first barrels of Texaco oil was carried on a large military procession from the northern Amazon in Ecuador to the seacoast for its processing and export. The parade included sullen indigenous women sitting above a tank, taken from their territories and families, most likely forcibly. The promotional video shows people…
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Indigenous Women Sing to Fight for the Amazon and Their Way of Life
The first barrels of Texaco oil were transported in a large military procession from the northern Amazon in Ecuador to the coast for processing and export in 1973. The parade included two indigenous women sitting on top of a tank, taken, most likely, by force from their territories and families. The promotional video shows people…