00:00Forests are one of the last lines of defense against catastrophic climate change.
00:05And yet, they are still disappearing at an alarming rate.
00:08Nearly half of global forests have already been lost.
00:12Though in Ecuador, there's a brave group of women who are fighting back.
00:16We're traveling deep into the Amazon rainforest to witness what happens
00:20when tradition, feminism, and environmental activism combined.
00:33We're here in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, to speak with Esperanza Martinez,
00:38who is the co-founder of Oil Watch.
00:41We'd love for you to share with us a little bit about why environmentalism
00:45and the female plight are so interconnected here in Ecuador.
00:49I think there's a close relationship between women to nature
00:52for work reasons, for practical life reasons.
00:55We're the women who we sow. We're the women who we sow.
01:00But there's also a bit more spiritual relationship.
01:03That relationship that is related in many of the indigenous stories
01:08where they reveal how the gods or the beings of nature
01:14were giving women these keys to understand
01:18what is the way to relationship with nature.
01:20How do you believe your tactics to fighting big companies
01:25and capitalism is different?
01:27The capitalism, to be able to work, has to, for one part,
01:33exploit nature, but for the other, exploit women,
01:35invisibility women in their work, minimize their role.
01:41Another prominent oil watch activist, Gabriela Ruales,
01:45describes this type of capitalism as the new patriarchy.
01:48I think that the struggle for the defense of the nature
01:52summed with feminism
01:55generates more conviction
01:56that it is important to transform
01:59and destroy the patriarchy system.
02:02Because when we look at how
02:05the petrol activity in these territories,
02:07from the extractivism,
02:09that requires colonization,
02:12that requires violence,
02:14that generates machismo in the territories,
02:17those relationships
02:19that establishes between male compacts.
02:22And they are resisting there, right?
02:25They are raising their voice
02:26and saying,
02:27that's enough to decide for us.
02:31That's why I think that ecofeminism
02:33is something important to transform the world.
02:43We arranged to meet one of these young women
02:45to have a better understanding of why they continue the fight.
02:48We're here on the Bobanasa River,
02:50right outside of Puyo.
02:52We're about to join Nina on a five to seven hour canoe ride
02:56into her village of Sarayaku.
03:04But the views are pretty incredible.
03:07We just have, you know, four and a half, five more hours.
03:09Nina seems okay with it.
03:11She seems okay.
03:12Nina Gualinga is a force to be reckoned with.
03:15Born in Sarayaku and educated in Sweden from the age of seven,
03:19she returned to her ancestral land to continue the fight
03:22of the 21st century indigenous resistance.
03:26We made it!
03:28Sarayaku, which means river of corn in the Quechuan language,
03:31is a rich, biodiverse territory on the Bobanasa River
03:35in the region of El Oriente.
03:38About 1,500 Kichwa-speaking people call this land home.
03:42This is a school for the children.
03:46We all see each other, we all get together here.
03:50These houses have solar energy, so we have lights.
03:55Tell me what the girls learned how to do growing up here.
03:59Make chicha, make pottery, and take care of children.
04:04Yeah.
04:05Tell stories.
04:06I remember my grandmother, she always told stories
04:09when we were making chicha, because you'd do that together.
04:13Instead of the shower, you can come here.
04:16Is this just your spot to bathe, or do lots of people use it?
04:20No, a lot of people come here.
04:22It's so beautiful.
04:24After seeing all the beauty this land has to offer,
04:28it's obvious why the people here would do anything to keep it safe.
04:32The Quechua tribe has won a rare and stunning victory
04:35in the fight for environmental and tribal rights.
04:38They have successfully pushed out both the Ecuadorian military
04:42and the major oil companies who were clearing their forests
04:45and destroying their land.
04:46They formed an activist group to protect their rights,
04:49then sued the government of Ecuador
04:51and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
04:54In 2012, the Ecuadorian government lost and had to apologize,
04:59paying out $1.25 million to the community.
05:02We spoke to Nina about how feminism played a role in this victory.
05:07A lot of people want to define feminism as just one thing,
05:10but every place has different values, different principles.
05:16I know that something that is really important to women in Sarayaku
05:20is to defend our territories and to take care of Mother Earth.
05:27I think women have a very deep connection to Mother Earth
05:32and feel the need to protect her as women.
05:37So you feel that the Earth is female?
05:39Yeah, I feel that. I don't know, it's like my mom.
05:43It's hard to capture what it feels like to be here.
05:46We're excited to continue exploring tomorrow.
05:56This is Wayusa, and it's a tea that we drink every morning.
06:02It's a space where we talk about our dreams,
06:06and we guide ourselves with our dreams.
06:11What kind of stereotypes do you all have to fight against here in Ecuador?
06:16People see indigenous people like very primitive.
06:22And many times the government, well, our president,
06:26he has called a lot of our leaders, like, stupid, ignorant.
06:31I know that the things that I'm doing will probably have a consequence in the future,
06:35but I'm not afraid.
06:38Nina wants to show us why she keeps fighting for this land.
06:41So she's letting us experience firsthand what the women do here every day.
06:46Make chicha, a sweet-for-minute drink made from the yucca root.
06:51Traditionally, all the females of the community will join together
06:54to collect the yucca root in the chakra, or rainforest plantation.
06:58This is my grandmother's chakra.
07:01So now we came here to take some yucca back home to make chicha.
07:06I'm going to try to chop some yucca.
07:09Need it like this.
07:11We have to do it like this.
07:13Sweet.
07:15What is the yucca ceremony that the women do with the red paint?
07:19When we are planting the yucca, it's like a fruit called achiote.
07:23It's red.
07:24And then you put it on the yucca sticks that you're going to plant.
07:28And then you paint your face.
07:30And you do that because you're giving blood to the yucca so it can grow.
07:36For the women here, fighting the oil companies isn't just about climate change.
07:41It's about maintaining a way of life, living in concert with the jungle,
07:46in a way that has served their community for generations.
07:51And this makes your hair shiny?
07:54Yeah.
07:55Because the hair is one of the most important parts of the beauty of a woman.
07:59When it comes to community organizing and influencing your community, what kind of roles do women play?
08:06Here in Sarayaku, the women have had a very strong role when it comes to defending our territory.
08:17How have oral companies affected your land?
08:19We have a constant threat.
08:22Mm-hmm.
08:23And we always have to be, like, you know, on our guard.
08:28There's not one moment that I can just, like, lay down and say, okay, this place is safe.
08:33Mm-hmm.
08:35Making chicha is a lot of work.
08:37Large groups of women are needed to chew and spit the yucca root, which starts the fermentation process.
08:43It's impossible to do this alone.
08:46Yeah.
08:46Yeah, well, that's true.
08:48Nina's grandmother's chicha, in particular, has been a favorite among surrounding tribes.
08:52A strong jaw.
08:53Why is your chicha so good?
08:54Because it's strong.
08:56It's strong.
08:57It's strong?
09:05How long does it usually take for you?
09:08A couple of hours.
09:09Yeah.
09:10And then you let it ferment.
09:12Chicha.
09:14Making the chicha.
09:18We just spent the last few days in Nina's village in the Amazon.
09:22And to witness and better understand the environment they are trying so hard to preserve.
09:27But now we're headed back to Puyo to see just how large the indigenous movement has become.
09:39This parade is a celebration of a famous 1992 march made by indigenous tribes fighting for justice.
09:46Up front are all the national leaders as well as the Amazonian queens.
09:52As many as 5,000 people walked 160 miles from Puyo to Quito to raise awareness for the indigenous uprising.
10:03What are some of your future hopes for the Ecuadorian indigenous community?
10:08I hope that indigenous people in Ecuador and all over the world decide about things that are going to affect
10:15their lives.
10:15And not having someone else deciding that for them.
10:19Although the government treats indigenous people as less than and criminalizes the protest.
10:25They will not quit fighting for their basic human rights.
10:27I know.
10:29As Nina and these young women continue to bring these issues to the global community.
10:34They are close to saving their homes and the rest of the world in the process.
