This woman made history defending her people's land: 'It's time that the world listened to us'
Nemonte Nenquimo is a Waorani woman who lives in Ecuador, which is "home to some of the most biodiverse rainforests on Earth, teeming with rich wildlife, intricate ecosystems, and Indigenous communities like the Waorani," wrote OneEarth.
The Waorani have lived along the Amazon for thousands of years, but deforestation and construction threaten their land. In the last 50 years, 20% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed, according to Sentient Media.
Millions of people are at risk of losing their homes — and Nemonte Nenquimo is trying to prevent that.
When seven million acres of Indigenous land was up for sale, Nemonte partnered with Amazon Frontlines to launch Our Rainforest is Not for Sale. The campaign collected signatures and shared resources to prevent the sale of Indigenous land without their permission.
The campaign was successful. The "court ruled to protect 500,000 acres of their rainforest from oil extraction and mandated that no land could be auctioned without prior and informed consent from the tribe," according to OneEarth.
The Amazon is Earth's largest rainforest. The lush forest acts as a carbon sink, slowing the effects of the changing climate. It also hosts thousands of species of plants and animals and is incredibly biodiverse. Without the Amazon, we could lose 10% of our animals and see a drastic rise in the planet's temperature.
From bringing green energy upgrades like solar panels to Indigenous communities to encouraging Waorani youth to document and protect their land, Nemonte's work has an incredible impact on the environment and the people around her.
Nemonte is also the co-founder of the Indigenous-led nonprofit Ceibo Alliance, which works toward "indigenous resistance and international solidarity rooted in the defense of indigenous territory, cultural survival, and the building of viable solutions-based alternatives to rainforest destruction," per its website.
Do you think America does a good job of protecting its natural beauty?
Definitely
Only in some areas
No way
I'm not sure
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.
Hard work pays off. Not only is the Amazon and its people safer through her efforts, but she was also recognized by TIME magazine as one of the most influential people in 2020 and received the Goldman Environmental Prize for her sustained efforts to protect the planet.
"As Indigenous peoples, we are fighting to protect what we love—our way of life, our rivers, the animals, our forests, life on Earth—and it's time that the world listened to us," she told OneEarth.
Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
-PR-Global-Exterior.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
Condé Nast Traveler
2 hours ago
- Condé Nast Traveler
Museums at Indian Boarding Schools Are Shining Light on Their Survivors
'The original intent of this [school] was to destroy our culture,' says Stacey Montooth, executive director of the Nevada Department of Native American Affairs and citizen of the Walker River Paiute Nation. Together, under a cloudless Nevada sky in Carson City, she and I stroll the campus of the Stewart Indian School, a boarding school that opened in 1890 by the US government as part of a greater effort to force Indigenous children to assimilate—at all costs—into white society. As we walk along manicured lawns and past beautifully crafted stone buildings, which I later learn were built by Hopi stonemasons from Arizona, it's hard to picture the dark chapter of American history that unfolded here. Thanks to the preservation work of Montooth and others, there's no need to imagine: The proof lies in what's now a National Historic District that includes an audio-led walking trail of 20 stops along the campus and the Stewart Indian School Cultural Center and Museum. Held within the cultural center and museum are the complex stories of children who attended Stewart, oftentimes told in their own words, as well as artifacts like black-and-white photographs from the school's earliest days, vocational training textbooks that were used, and privilege passes that determined which activities students could attend or take part in. According to the boarding school's internal records, nearly 21,000 children were either kidnapped or coerced into attending Stewart. In an effort to strip them of their Native American culture and adapt them to 'appropriate American culture,' children were forbidden from speaking their native languages or practicing cultural traditions; their names were changed and hair cut; and contact with their families and communities was cut off. Many students also suffered deeply traumatic experiences, including physical and sexual abuse from teachers and staff.
San Francisco Chronicle
06-08-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
Burnt offerings, whispering to mountains: Inside Bolivians' rituals for Mother Earth
LA CUMBRE, Bolivia (AP) — Neyza Hurtado was 3 years old when she was struck by lightning. Forty years later, sitting next to a bonfire on a 13,700-foot (4,175-meter) mountain, her scarred forehead makes her proud. 'I am the lightning,' she said. 'When it hit me, I became wise and a seer. That's what we masters are.' Hundreds of people in Bolivia hire Andean spiritual guides like Hurtado to perform rituals every August, the month of 'Pachamama,' or Mother Earth, according to the worldview of the Aymara, an Indigenous people of the region. Pachamama's devotees believe that she awakens hungry and thirsty after the dry season. To honor her and express gratitude for her blessings, they make offerings at home, in their crop fields and on the peaks of Bolivian mountains. 'We come here every August to follow in the footsteps of our elders,' said Santos Monasterios, who hired Hurtado for a Pachamama ritual on a site called La Cumbre, about 8 miles (13 kilometers) from the capital city of La Paz. 'We ask for good health and work.' Honoring Mother Earth Offerings made to Pachamama are known as 'mesitas' (or 'little tables'). Depending on each family's wishes, masters like Hurtado prepare one mesita per family or per person. Mesitas are made of wooden logs. On top of them, each master places sweets, grains, coca leaves and small objects representing wealth, protection and good health. Occasionally, llama or piglet fetuses are also offered. Once the mesita is ready, the spiritual guide sets it on fire and devotees douse their offerings with wine or beer, to quench Pachamama's thirst. 'When you make this ritual, you feel relieved,' Monasterios said. 'I believe in this, so I will keep sharing a drink with Pachamama.' It can take up to three hours for a mesita to burn. Once the offerings have turned to ash, the devotees gather and solemnly bury the remains to become one with Mother Earth. Why Bolivians make offerings to Pachamama Carla Chumacero, who travelled to La Cumbre last week with her parents and a sister, requested four mesitas from her longtime spiritual guide. 'Mother Earth demands this from us, so we provide,' the 28-year-old said. According to Chumacero, how they become aware of Pachamama's needs is hard to explain. 'We just know it; it's a feeling,' she said. 'Many people go through a lot — accidents, trouble within families — and that's when we realize that we need to present her with something, because she has given us so much and she can take it back.' María Ceballos, 34, did not inherit her devotion from her family, but from co-workers at the gold mine where she earns a living. 'We make offerings because our work is risky,' Ceballos said. 'We use heavy machinery and we travel often, so we entrust ourselves to Pachamama.' A ritual rooted in time and climate The exact origin of the Pachamama rituals is difficult to determine, but according to Bolivian anthropologist Milton Eyzaguirre, they are an ancestral tradition dating back to 6,000 B.C. As the first South American settlers came into the region, they faced soil and climate conditions that differed from those in the northernmost parts of the planet, where winter begins in December. In Bolivia, as in other Southern Hemisphere countries, winter runs from June to September. 'Here, the cold weather is rather dry,' Eyzaguirre said. 'Based on that, there is a particular behavior in relation to Pachamama.' Mother Earth is believed to be asleep throughout August. Her devotees wish for her to regain her strength and bolster their sowing, which usually begins in October and November. A few months later, when the crops are harvested in February, further rituals are performed. 'These dates are key because it's when the relationship between humans and Pachamama is reactivated,' Eyzaguirre said. 'Elsewhere it might be believed that the land is a consumer good,' he added. 'But here there's an equilibrium: You have to treat Pachamama because she will provide for you.' Bolivians' connection to their land August rituals honor not only Pachamama, but also the mountains or 'apus,' considered protective spirits for the Aymara and Quechua people. 'Under the Andean perspective, all elements of nature have a soul,' Eyzaguirre said. 'We call that 'Ajayu,' which means they have a spiritual component.' For many Bolivians, wind, fire, and water are considered spirits, and the apus are perceived as ancestors. This is why many cemeteries are located in the highlands and why Pachamama rituals are performed at sites like La Cumbre. 'The apus protect us and keep an eye on us,' said Rosendo Choque, who has been a spiritual guide or 'yatiri' for 40 years. He, like Hurtado, said that only a few select people can do they job. Before becoming masters, it is essential that they acquire special skills and ask Pachamama's permission to perform rituals in her honor. 'I acquired my knowledge little by little,' Choque said. 'But I now have the permission to do this job and coca leaves speak to me.' Hurtado said she mostly inherited her knowledge from her grandmother, who was also a yatiri and witnessed how she survived the lightning strike. 'For me, she is the holiest person, the one who made me what I am,' Hurtado said. She said she finds comfort in helping her clients secure a good future, but her close relationship with Pachamama brings her the deepest joy. 'We respect her because she is Mother Earth,' Hurtado said. 'We live in her.'
03-08-2025
Mexico City marks 700 years since its founding by Indigenous people
MEXICO CITY -- Mexico City is marking the 700th anniversary of its founding with a series of public events on Saturday, including artistic performances honoring the city's Indigenous origins. Artists in Indigenous clothing reenacted the founding of the Aztec capital in front of the country's top officials in Mexico City's main square. Later, hundreds of dancers dressed in traditional clothing, feather headdresses, drums, and ankle rattles made of seeds performed sacred dances meant to connect with nature. The anniversary commemorates the establishment of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Mexica, a group also known as the Aztecs, who settled in the Valley of Mexico in 1325. As recorded by early Spanish chroniclers, Mexica elders told of a divine sign from their patron god Huitzilopochtli: an eagle on a cactus, signaling where to settle. That place became Tenochtitlan, the center of Aztec civilization and the site of today's Mexico City. That symbol was later recorded in the Codex Mendoza, which contained historical accounts of the Aztec empire. It became central to Mexican identity and appears today on the national flag. 'Mexico was not born with the arrival of the Spanish; Mexico was born much earlier with the great civilizations,' said President Claudia Sheinbaum in a speech in which she urged the eradication of the racism that still persists in the country. Tenochtitlan began as a village on an island in a lake ringed by volcanic peaks. But historians say many other details that have come down in history are based heavily on legend, and that the exact founding date is unknown. By the time the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, they were awed by a city filled with palaces, bridges, canals and bustling trade, according to Spanish chronicler and conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo. Historian Miguel Pastrana of the National Autonomous University of Mexico's Historic Investigations Institute, an expert on Tenochtitlan, said the weekend's festivities are 'political and civic" and do not reflect the latest historical research. The historical record describes the Mexica as a people who migrated from a place called Aztlan, supposedly an island whose exact location remains unknown. They knew how to fish, gather aquatic plants and hunt birds, as well as build dams, and they tried to settle in several places before arriving in the Valley of Mexico. The main island in the lake was already populated by the Tepaneca people, but they allowed the Mexica to settle there in exchange for tribute payments and other services, Pastrana said. Little by little, the Mexica's power grew. They were strong warriors and commercially prosperous, and they were effective at making alliances with other peoples. Tenochtitlan became a great city at the center of an empire until the Spanish conquered it in 1521.
