AWASQA

  • Irma Pineda: To Reconcile with Mother Earth, We Must Reconcile with Ourselves

    We spoke with Irma Pineda Santiago, a Zapotec from Juchitán, Mexico, who speaks Diidxazá and is the Latin American representative for the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. She talks about the effects of the pandemic on Indigenous populations, the recovery of ancestral knowledge—and its practice, in the midst of the pandemic—and the resilience of…

  • Ka Kuxtal Much' Meyaj A.C

    Indigenous Health Manuals, A Contribution to the Pandemic

    One of the primary sources of ancestral knowledge, treasured by humanity, is herbal medicine. Traditional indigenous medicine has its main foundation in the learning and millennial teaching of the healing power of nature, mastery in the use of infusions, poultices, mixtures , and remedies created with various plants, barks, leaves, roots, petals, juices, that applied…

  • Internet indígena. Foto: Rhizomatica

    Solutions for Internet Access in Isolated Regions

    Native communities have depended on their economic capacity to solve their communication services. Historically, there is a global attention deficit in this regard, for example, according to World Bank data, indigenous peoples “have less than half the access to cellular telephony than non-indigenous peoples,” and “between four and six times less internet access than non-indigenous…

  • #WasipiSakiri. Foto: RadioIluman

    Decolonizing Health II: Community Efforts in Abya Yala

    Slowly we perceive―like the rising of the river when it comes down from the mountain―that the rain at the top of the summit hasn’t ceded, and that we must prepare for the sudden flow. After the initial storm, like the soft roots that creep between the stones until they are broken, ideas, actions, and the…

    VIII Continental Congress of Indigenous Women of the Americas

    More than 250 women representatives of indigenous organizations from across the Americas met in Mexico City to discuss the current political and social situation of the Americas that affects indigenous women, children and youth. Within the framework of the fight against violence against women and feminicide, the participants met from February 26 to 29 to…

  • Vaqueros. Picture: Sergio Navarrete 2015

    Mexico: “We Are Blacks from the Coast” Project

    Mexico: During the colonial era, demographically, the majority population was the Indigenous People, the second-largest was of African origin, and the third was whites and mestizos of European descent. Mexico had two Black presidents: the Generals Vicente Guerrero and Juan Álvarez (called “El Pinto” because he suffered from vitiligo. Because of the white spots on…

    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…

    Water, Mexico and Its Many Hidden Names

    By Yásnaya Elena A. Gil,* presentation at the Mexican Congress on February 28, 2019, to mark the international year of indigenous languages. Nëwemp “the place of water”, mixe. Giajmïï “about water”, chinateco. Nangi ndá “the land in the middle of water”, mazateco. Kuríhi “inside water”, chichimeco. Nu koyo “humid town”, mixteco. It was the name…