At this moment, Indigenous communities are experiencing the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, while also facing ongoing fossil fuel extraction and pipeline struggles. Across North America, Turtle Island, tribes, as well as communities of color, are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 due to a lack of resources and health disparities brought on by centuries of colonial policies and environmental racism. As Indigenous communities come together to protect those most vulnerable, governments and fossil fuel companies are grossly taking advantage of this time to push forward with pipelines and extractive projects that will only further exacerbate the issues Indigenous communities are already facing.
During the webinar, Indigenous women leaders will discuss how COVID-19 is impacting their communities and how oil and gas pipelines are being fast-tracked in their lands— violating Indigenous rights and further putting Indigenous women at risk. In this wide-ranging discussion, presenters will share calls to action, stories and wisdom, immediate needs of their communities, community-care practices, and the latest updates from various campaigns and resistance movements, focusing on Keystone XL, Line 3 and Coastal GasLink pipelines, and tar sands extraction. Share this event with your networks via Facebook here.
Speakers include Freda Huson (Chief Howihkat), Unist’ot’en – Wet’suwet’en People, Leader and spokesperson for the Unist’ot’en camps resisting the Coastal GasLink Pipeline; Faith Spotted Eagle (Tunkan Inajin Win), Dakota and Nakota Nations within the Oceti Sakowinan, Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines Resistance Leader; Tara Houska, Couchiching First Nation Anishinaabe, Tribal Attorney and Founder of Giniw Collective, Line 3 pipeline Resistance Leader; and Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Executive Director of Indigenous Climate Action, Tar Sands extraction Resistance Leader. Moderation and comments by Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN). Full bios can be found here.
During this webinar, Indigenous women leaders of the Ecuadorian and Brazilian Amazon will unite to discuss how the devastating coronavirus pandemic is impacting their communities, as they face ongoing deforestation, oil extraction, and Indigenous rights violations in their territories. As is the case across Turtle Island, Indigenous peoples of the Global South are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 due to a lack of resources and health disparities brought on by centuries of colonial policies and environmental racism. Indigenous women leaders will share their stories, analysis, wisdom, and advocacy for Indigenous rights, protection of forests, water, communities, and the global climate. They will also address the ongoing political and economic struggles affecting their Amazonian territories.
Scientists have stated that destroyed and diminishing natural habitats create the conditions for animal/human virus crossovers, such as COVID-19, and that further pandemics will emerge if we continue to exploit biodiverse regions, making it even more vital for us to stand with land defenders in the Amazon. We need to protect the Amazon because first and foremost, Indigenous peoples have the right to live their traditional ways in their own lands, and we must also understand that there is no protecting forests for climate mitigation and healthy global communities without standing in solidarity with the defenders of the land. We have much to learn from the women’s calls to action, their immediate needs, and their vision for living in respect and well-being with Mother Earth. Share this event with your networks via Facebook here.
Speakers include Patricia Gualinga, Kichwa leader from Sarayaku, Ecuador, Spokeswoman for Mujeres Amazónicas Defensoras de la Selva (Amazon Women in Defense of the Jungle); Sônia Bone Guajajara, Indigenous leader from Brazil, Executive Coordinator for the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) with translation by Maria Paula, Founder of the NGO “A Drop in the Ocean; Daiara Tukano, Indigenous activist from Brazil, independent communicator and coordinator of Radio Yandê; and Helena Gualinga, Kichwa youth activist from Sarayaku, Ecuador. Moderation and comments by Osprey Orielle Lake, Executive Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN). Full bios can be found here.
Quakers, social justice and revolution 