How should we fight forceful winds?

June 21st, crossing the Hecate Strait - Turtle Island (Canada)

By Waira Nina Jacanamijoy Mutumbajoy (Asociacion de Mujeres Indigenas Defensoras de la Chagra de la Vida - ASOMI) and Jani Silva (Zona de Reserva Campesina Perla Amazónica) with support from Peace Brigades International and Forest Peoples Programme.

Today, the 21st of June, on National Indigenous Peoples Day in Turtle Island (Canada), we, Indigenous Peoples and Campesinos (Peasants) of the Colombian Amazon, continue our journey rooting strategies that uphold life and survival in our territories. 

We are crossing turbulent waters: on the one hand, we are physically crossing the Hecate Strait, one of the roughest seas in the Pacific Ocean; and on the other hand, we are facing the strong currents bearing down on our territories. 

Despite these turbulent waters, as Indigenous Peoples we have upheld our responsibility to bring harmony and maintain spiritual connections within our territories. Our grounding in self-determination makes us an example for the world today.

Honouring the mandate of our ancestry and respecting our elders, we, the Peoples of the South, call on the Peoples of the North to come together in solidarity in the face of the forceful winds that aim to decimate life. And from here, we make an invitation for all to listen to the messages from the three worlds, according to the cosmovision of the Inga People of Caquetá: namely, alpa awuama (the land above); alpa shaupipi (the land in the middle); and alpa ukuta (the land below).

The forceful winds silence these messages, just as nation-states have tried to impose their visions of so-called development on communities' life projects. 

How ought we fight these turbulent waters and these forceful winds? 

We, Ancestral Peoples have always known how:  through our practices, and through our knowledges exchange, as we are doing now with the Indigenous Nations in Turtle Island. 

Today, as we celebrate solstice, which illuminates the longest day of the year, we are filled with hope. Our hearts brim full of the learnings the Haida Nation has exchanged with us. They have heard our call. And as Peoples from the South, we have also heard the messages from the Peoples of the North. We are looking forward to setting out on the next phase of our journey, where we will visit and learn from the experiences of the Wet'suwet'en, Gitxan and Gitanyow Peoples resisting extractivist economies on their homelands.

We follow our ñambi (path). Just as the path of the sun joins the path of the moon on this solstice, so too the peoples will walk together embracing their distinct struggles of self-determination.