"The best journeys in life are those that answer questions you never thought to ask." - Rich Ridgeway, American mountaineer and environmentalist
Nothing about us without us
Washington Kiriri (Kiriri) is an Anthropology student at the Federal University of Southern Bahia in Brazil. He aspires to end the objectification of Indigenous people as anthropological case studies and to create new opportunities for Indigenous people to tell their stories. He is also part of the United Movement of Peoples and Organizations of Bahia, which seeks to guarantee Indigenous territorial rights, women's rights, 2SLGBTQ+ rights, and climate justice. Kiriri offers a reflection on his experience as a bisexual person in Brazil.
As the world celebrates World Oceans Day, we turn our attention to Barú Island, a hidden gem nestled off the coast of Cartagena, Colombia. On this vibrant island, the Afro-descendant community serves as the stewards of rich mangrove ecosystems that line their coastal shores.
For Indigenous Peoples, gender has always been transcendent and fluid, interconnected to our lands, languages, cultures, spiritualities, and worldviews. The separation occurred during colonization and acts of genocide that regulated sexuality with the aim of eliminating gender diversity in Indigenous communities.
On May 6, 2023, as England was coronating a new king after weeks of mourning the passing of their previous ruler, Mashpee Wampanoags were also taking the day to fill the void of leadership left by the death of Vernon “Silent Drum” Lopez, the chief of Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe for the last 25 years of his life.
Imagine walking through a museum in Japan and seeing a glass case containing a bronze plaque with the words inscribed on the surface, “George Washington slept here in 1776,” with the explanation that this bronze plaque was an important part of American history. As an American, you would assume that something had been lost in translation.
The following is the Opening Statement of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC) at the UNFCCC SB58 meeting in Bonn, Germany, made on June 5, 2023.
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.