Indigenous ‘Idle No More’ Movement Sweeps Across US

Over 80 actions held in support of Canadian First Nation’s demand for rights and environmental justice

On Friday, January 11, nearly 50 residents from the Washington, D.C. metro area stood at the steps of the Canadian Embassy and slathered themselves with chocolate syrup. Smudged across faces and clothing, the sticky, sweet syrup began to take on a sinister…
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by: Lauren Johnson – January 14, 2013

Ecuador’s Indigenous Leaders Oppose New Oil Exploration Plans in Amazon Region

Country set to open 11th licensing round of oil exploration in 10 million acres of pristine, undeveloped rainforest

“The Sapara do not believe in cemeteries,” said Rosa Dahua, an Indigenous leader from the Ecuadorean Amazon. She was seated on a wooden stool with an anaconda carved into its base, and she leaned forward as she spoke, her dark hair falling…
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by: Lauren Johnson – November 13, 2012

Court Favors Indigenous Community in Decade-Long Struggle Against Oil-drilling in Ecuador

Inter-American Human Rights Court finds Ecuadorean govt guilty of violating physical and cultural wellbeing of the Sarayaku people

Cristina Gualinga remembers when she first saw helicopters spiral above the canopy of the Amazon.  It was in the late 80’s, and the US-owned oil company ARCO/Oriente was attempting to operate in the ancestral territory of the Kichwa Indigenous community of Sarayaku,…
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by: Lauren Johnson – July 31, 2012

South American Indigenous Nations in Rio to Press their Demands during UN Summit

First Nations Say They Must Approve Resource Extraction Projects Before they Begin

“We are going to sing together,” said Miguel Hereveri Pakarati, an Indigenous elder from the island of Rapa Nui – commonly known as Easter Island. While rolling through the balmy, Brazilian countryside in the back of a passenger bus, Pakarati taught a…
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by: Lauren Johnson – June 18, 2012

Ecuadorians Protest Mining Plans in the Amazon

President Correa Faces Criticism for Violating Rights of Nature Enshrined in Country’s New Constitution

This month, dozens of pro-government billboards began to dot the scenery off Ecuador’s Pan-American Highway. “The people are with you now more than ever,” read several signs that feature a beaming President Rafael Correa waving the Ecuadorean flag. As the highway winds…
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by: Lauren Johnson – March 26, 2012

Ecuadorean Indigenous Group Challenges Oil Drilling in International Court

Case Is a Major Test for Indigenous Rights Throughout the Western Hemisphere

“I think I see them!” said Samai Gualinga, an Indigenous youth from Sarayaku, a Kichwa community located in the Ecuadorean Amazon. She craned her neck to see over the security checkpoints at Quito’s Mariscal Sucre Airport and then, with the help of…
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by: Lauren Johnson – July 14, 2011