The environmentalism of indigenous peoples is called the defense of the territory. This is how María Tzuc Dzib and Erika Hernández define it, two of the indigenous women from Mexico who this year traveled to the city of Glasgow, Scotland, for the 26th edition of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP).
“The defense of the territory has a relationship with our body. It's the way in which we perceive life and it's extremely important because if we take care of the planet, we're taking care of each and every one of us,” said Erika Hernández, originally from a Nahua town in Cuentepec, Morelos, who during the interview meets a delegation of 17 indigenous people in Glasgow.
The trip to COP26, which was originally circulated as an invitation, is actually an Indigenous Futures initiative. A network that emerged from a laboratory managed in June by different resistances of indigenous peoples in Mexico. In their work, they received support from environmental youth organizations such as Legado Gaia (LEGAIA) and Fridays For Future that contributed to their trip to the other side of the world for the conference from October 31 to November 12.
“It came from ourselves, from youth, from resistance, from people from below,” described María Tzuc Dzib, a native of the Mayan area of the Yucatan Peninsula.
For indigenous resistance, the path is not only to reduce plastic consumption or plant more trees, it is also to stop open-pit mines that are a threat to the environment and the population of states such as Morelos, Puebla or Zacatecas; to stop industries that pollute the water of towns in Yucatán, Campeche and Quintana Roo; to stop megaprojects, extractivism, as well as the persecution, harassment, disappearances and murders of environmentalists to defend the land they inhabit.
What does it mean to be at COP26 as indigenous women from different resistances in Mexico?
María: The importance is to bring our voices. We are 17 people here (in Glasgow). We take the idea as something important to present ourselves with because self-management is what we believe in, it has to do with autonomy, being outside the institutional framework.
Erika: We want to clarify that our hopes are not sustained at COP26. We are in alternative spaces where we can weave networks, build narratives, share them and thus have an impact. Because we have the firm idea that the things that are going to be built for the future have to come from the bottom up. Because everything that is causing climate change is affecting indigenous populations the most.
And being in Glasgow, do you consider that COP26 has the tools to understand what land defense is in countries like Mexico?
Erika: From our perspective, no. Spaces are not being opened to listen to indigenous people, and if they do, they don't really show the narratives that we come to talk about, they bring out things that are convenient for them. Many times they say that indigenous peoples have no voice, but we have always had one, we have always fought and resisted. The problem lies with the decision makers, who don't listen, they don't want the responsibility of saying that these megaprojects that they are managing as a “green capitalism” really affect communities. That's what we found.
María: We had an experience at COP26 with one of the panels that gave us the accreditation after searching in several places. They invited one of the members to introduce herself and talk about environmental education. On the panel there were people who spoke English and others who spoke Spanish, but in general it was in English, and I feel that they were not even prepared to fully translate or interpret the panelists. There was no way for those of us who don't speak English to understand what is being said. This makes us think that it is a space in which we don't even take into account those who are present listening. That is a great lack, it seems to me a lack of respect for the indigenous peoples that we are present.
And what are the narratives that you bring to COP26?
María: Our main message is to take into account the wisdom of the original peoples as the defense of the territory, the wisdom that is inside our minds, our hearts, our actions. By meeting with young environmentalists who have a different perspective on what climate change is, we have been able to share this relationship that exists between the environmental crisis and the defense of the territory. We have learned a lot from them and they have learned a lot from us. (Young environmentalists) said “I'm going to recycle”, “I'm going to use less plastics” or “I don't buy bottled water anymore”, but the other part of the peoples' wisdom was not in their speech. So the impact we may have on that seems to me to be one of the most important things that have been generated within the network.
Erika: We also bring the message of protecting those who protect the environment, such as native peoples. Our message is that they listen to these narratives and those stories. We denounce this bloodshed of land defenders, as well as their disappearances. It's taking it as a focus of attention because there's a lot of work to do in that part of justice.
In Mexico, during 2020, there were 90 attacks perpetrated in 65 different attacks against environmental defenders. And for the second consecutive year, the most recurrent aggression is homicide with 18 murders, according to the Report on the Situation of Environmental Human Rights Defenders prepared by CEMDA.
How could this barrier be transcended to unite the defense of the territory with the fight for climate change?
María: All peoples are working from the local level. We're working with our families, we're working with our neighbors, we're working with our community. Local struggles are very important because we always talk at the national level, we talk about what is homogeneous, encompassing the fact that they are all the same when in reality they are not. Each region is different and has different needs. So generating something homogeneous is not the way, but by thinking about local resistances, from below, from ourselves, we can begin to move forward. I think that currently there is no such awareness and when we talk about environmentalism it ends up being a discourse of people who are perhaps more in cities thinking about the global without that having an impact or concrete action in the territory where they are living. When that link with the earth is rediscovered, we can go beyond discourse.
Erika: Public policies must be done locally. What happens when they make these policies globally? It benefits companies, especially extractive companies, that paint themselves green but that affect communities a lot. But I make it clear that the cure for the earth should not be left only to the original peoples, but to call for urgent action because the climate crisis affects all of us.
In Mexico, what has environmental policy been like since its resistance in recent years?
Erika: The answer lies in the analysis that can be done, how many defenders have disappeared, how many more deaths there have been. It's like thinking and rethinking how much (environmental policy) is working for them and how much it has affected native peoples.
María: And that comes from this one and the other (six-year term), it comes from years. It is not something that is being experienced only now, but for decades. This defense of the territory that is bathed in blood is not only by the current government, it is the governments, it is the State.
During the interview, mention is made of Samir Flores Soberanes, an activist opposed to the Huexca thermoelectric plant, in the municipality of Cuautla, Morelos, who was murdered outside his house in 2019. So far there has been no progress in investigating those responsible.
When they return to the end of COP26, what's next for Indigenous Futures?
María: We have already encountered other resistances here and what follows is to continue to generate networks. Not only in Mexico, because I have to mention that Guatemala is also present in this network and there are people from Venezuela who are also resisting. Our job returning, well, not even returning because we are already doing it, is to continue weaving networks for the defense of the territory.
Comentarios (0)