Communication
Meet the next generation of Indigenous communicators, activists, and youth leaders shaping the future of the Amazon through storytelling, advocacy, and community leadership.
Amazonian Indigenous Communicators from Brazil
PRISCILA TAPAJOWARA
Tapajó activist, climate activist, photographer, producer of audiovisual content and co-coordinator of Mídia Indígena
“My work as an indigenous photographer, filmmaker and communicator has had a significant impact, both in the territories I represent and beyond. Over almost 12 years of work and activism, I have used art and communication as tools to echo the voices of the peoples of the forest, occupying different spaces and promoting a narrative constructed by us indigenous people about our own histories, resistance and cultural riches. In recent years, we have witnessed a significant transformation: the indigenous voice in communication has gained strength and reached national and international proportions. Through social networks, photography, cinema and, above all, the training courses I promote, I have helped to broaden these narratives, which are now told by us ourselves. One of the biggest impacts of my work has been the training of young indigenous communicators. These training processes not only empower our youth in local territories, but also strengthen our work at national level. By sharing techniques, knowledge and experiences, I help to ensure that more young people occupy protagonist spaces, express themselves through art and communication and strengthen the collective struggle of indigenous peoples.” Priscila Tapajowara - Portrait by ’50 Explorers’
TXAI SURUI
Suruí Paiter Activist, Environmental and Human Rights Defender
"The Earth is speaking: she tells us we have no more time. It is a huge responsibility to be representing Indigenous Peoples. We are a large and diverse group, with different cultures and realities. Some suffer with deforestation, others with illegal mining. I speak about the Amazon rainforest because it is the place I live and was born. The Amazon is the biggest tropical forest of the world with a huge amount of biodiversity, richness of people and cultures. Therefore this discussion [to protect it] is important to the entire world. If there are no Indigenous Peoples, forests wouldn’t exist today. Any woman knows that wherever you are it is going to be difficult, people will also try to discredit you because of your age, by saying ‘you are too young, you need to learn. As an Indigenous woman, I can say we also face racism and issues related to colonisation, so I think it is very important to be here in this space [COP26] because we will only be able to decolonise these places with our presence and our voices. The healing of our planet will happen thanks to and through the wisdom of Indigenous women. It is crucial that we are heard because we are the ones suffering the most with the climate crisis in our territories and despite that, we're fighting hard and already have solutions to put an end to this crisis.” Txai Suruí - ‘Message for the Planet’ at COP26 - 2021
ERISVAN BONE GUAJAJARA
Guajajara youth leader, Co-Founder of Mídia Indígena, Communicator, Activist for Indigenous and LGTBQ+ Rights, Photographer, Videographer
“The forest cannot exist without us, the rivers cannot exist without their source, and people cannot exist without the land. The future only exists when it is built collectively.” Erisvan Guajajara
CHRISTIAN WARI'U
Xavante digital communicator and graphic designer
“I am the son of an indigenous leader. My father is currently the president of the Federation of Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of Mato Grosso, but he has been working for a long time on issues focused mainly on the Amazon. Because of this, he always brought home a lot of material and talked a lot with me and my two brothers about indigenous issues. So, from an early age, I was very aware of my place within the movement. I always say that we are born into a struggle, with a mindset of understanding that we have to give back to our communities, regardless of what we are doing. In my case, studying communication at the University of Brasília, giving back to indigenous peoples and to the Xavantes.” Cristian Wari'u: um guerreiro indígena do século XXI
KAMIKIA KISEDJE
Kisêdjê filmmaker and photographer
“While it is always appreciated that the world takes an interest in the Amazon and Indigenous peoples, sending talented journalists and filmmakers to cover these pressing issues, today we have highly trained indigenous filmmakers such as myself possessing the technical skills necessary to tell these stories from a very unique, personnel and organic perspective. It is also very empowering for my peoples. Now we can share our own stories in a way that more intimately reflects our concerns, culture and the issues that affect us.” Kamikia Kisedje (http://www.kamikiakisedje.com/index_english.html)
RENATA MACHADO TUPINAMBA
Tupinambá Activist, Co-Founder of Radio Yandé, Founder of the indigenous producer Originárias Produções and Visual Artist
“What we do is ethno-communication. It’s communication with identity, not journalism but communication in every sense. Journalism imposes through formats but indigenous people have their own cultural ways of communicating.” Renata Machado Tupinambá about the work of Radio Yandé, Brazil’s first digital WebRadio dedicated to indigenous issues - Text by Committee to protect Journalists
LIDIA GUAJAJARA
Guajajara Environmental Activist, Communicator (Mídia Índia and ANMIGA), Coordinator of Indigenous Youth Policies at Brazil's Ministry of Indigenous Peoples,
Coordinator of WECAN (Women Earth and Climate) Project,
“We are the generation that can make decisions and make a difference. If we don’t take action now, it’s impossible for others to do so later. Many people don’t take what is happening to the Amazon and other biomes seriously. Others think activism is just a fad. But we have been activists since we were children. We were born knowing what we need to defend: the forests and the people who live there.” Lídia Guajajara Text: Jovens da Amazônia lideram lutas para garantir futuro da floresta (https://cgn.inf.br/noticia/1734918/jovens-da-amazonia-lideram-lutas-para-garantir-futuro-da-floresta/)
SAMUEL ARARA
Shawãdawa/Arara Youth Activist, Environmental and Human Rights Defender, Communicator, Co-Founder of the Media Collective ’Tetepawa’
“Arriving at the United Nations headquarters through the front door is a milestone in my journey, but above all, it is a responsibility. I don't represent just myself. I bring with me my people, Acre, the Amazon, the indigenous youth, and all the communities that continue to resist in defense of their territories, their cultures, and their rights. The UN mechanisms are fundamental instruments for strengthening the protection of human rights. Our commitment is to learn how to use them strategically to expand the defense of indigenous peoples and contribute to ensuring that international decisions are increasingly connected to the realities experienced in our territories.” Samuel Arara (Portrait by CartaAmazonia)
MAYRA WAPICHANA
Wapichana Journalist
“The training of Indigenous Communicators is a tool for the struggle that originates at grassroots level, in the territories… an active and committed approach to collective causes!” - “A formação de Comunicadores Indígenas é um instrumento de luta que nasce na base, nos territórios... uma atuação ativa e comprometida com as causas coletivas!” Mayra Wapichana on X @Mayrawapichanaa
BEKA MUNDURUKU
Munduruku Documentary Filmmaker, Founder of the ‘Coletivo Audiovisual Daje Kapap Eypi’, Environmental and Human Rights Activist, Science Panel for the Amazon Youth Program
"We are fighting for our lives. For our land. For our cultures. For our children and grandchildren... What is irresponsible is for your company to make promises to end deforestation while continuing to expand into our territories and giving license to others to do the same." Beka Munduruku during her visit to Cargills Headquarters
PAULO DESANA
Indigenous cinematographer, visual artists and photographer
' "The Amazon is this melting pot of culture, of art, of everything," comments the artist. For him, the forest is a space of presence and belonging, where knowledge, practices and life forms that guide his artistic creation are concentrated. There are the stories and connections that feed their work, which also guide their own forms of relationship with the territory and its resources. "Whenever I can go to the forest, I go. It's where we feel connected," he says.' Text: Concertaçao indígena - (https://concertacaoamazonia.com.br/cultura/linha-das-artes/paulo-desana-faz-da-imagem-uma-afirmacao-da-existencia-indigena/)
Genilson Guajajara
Guajajara photographer
“Since I was little, I’ve been participating in meetings, listening to our leaders talk about defending the territory, as well as the fight for other public policies that are important to the community – education and healthcare. I’ve been part of this environment of resistance from an early age, and I’ve always wanted to contribute to the struggle of my people. Photography became a tool for me in this struggle.” Genilson Guajajara Interview with IfNotUsThenWho?
Indigenous Communication Projects from Brazil
Amazonian Indigenous Communicators from Ecuador
ERIBERTO GUALINGA
Kichwa Documentary Filmmaker from the Sarayaku Community
' "Young people are our future," says Eriberto Gualinga. "Many return after completing their training to help protect the living forest through social media." Portrait by Misrero.org (https://www.misereor.de/ueber-misereor/mitmenschen/eriberto)
KATTY GUALINGA
Kichwa youth leader and communicator from the Sarayaku Community, she participated in the flotilla-journey to COP30
“The environment doesn’t have a voice and I think that’s why those of us who are on the front-lines and close to nature, need to be the official spokespersons to convey how we should take care of our environment. Indigenous people have always been considered crazy for saying that trees transmit energy and that they have feelings. And that rivers and lakes have life. Right now, the environment is holding us accountable for our actions. It may not affect many people, and it will not affect wealthy business people, but we who are here (in the Amazon) are feeling greatly the consequences of how we have been treating Mother Nature. Therefore, it’s important that we speak up and for our voices to be heard to help the world understand the seriousness of what is happening.” Katty Gualinga Interview with Medium.com
ALEXIS GREFA
Kichwa Youth Environmental Activist who mobilized a campaign to stop the construction of a hydroelectric dam on a sacred river Piatua, Co-Creator of Amazon Flotilla Project
“We are not going to allow anyone to destroy our territory. But we need the international community to take action – we need to trigger collective, global change.” Alexis Grefa
LIMBER PAYAGUAJE
Siona Documentary Filmmaker
“It is important to document the process of planting Yo’co so that young people do not forget the importance of drinking it and learn from the grandparents its spiritual and medicinal properties” Limber Payaguje about the audiovisual report entitled ‘Yo’co Tsio’ (Yo’co Chagra)- IfNotUsThenWho?
Communication Projects from Ecuador
Amazonian Indigenous Communicators from Peru
DIANA RIOS RENGIFO
Asháninka Youth Leader, Environmental and Human Rights Activist, vice-president of the Saweto Community, Daughter of Jorge Ríos Pérez who was killed along with three others by illegal loggers on September 1st 2014
“As my father said: Today I fight. I don’t know if I will die or if I will live. But if I die, you will fight. Fight with dignity, with strength, with pride….we are all human beings.” “I ask that you support us, help us care for the future of our forest. It’s very important. We have given our lives for our lands, but we are doing it for everyone.” Diana Ross Rengifo
RONIN KOSHI
Shipibo-Konibo Activist, Artists and Influencer
“To be honest, when I was a teenager I hated being indigenous because of the intense rejection, abuse and insults from my classmates (to the point where they pushed me and I split my head open); then, opening my eyes and seeing my mother crying whilst the doctors stitched up my wound—that scene caused me great pain. Was being from the provinces or indigenous in Lima a curse? Did we not have the right to study or live in the capital? How much more could we endure? These and many more questions swirled around in my mind; eventually, all that frustration turned into rebellion. However, picking up a loom and a paintbrush, and setting to work creating whilst my mother told me her stories and experiences, helped me release that negative energy within me, healing my pain, my wounds and my hatred towards others. In conclusion, art and my mother were my strength and my therapy, enabling me to carry on.” Ronin Koshi in an instagram post
Communication Projects from Peru
Amazonian Indigenous Communicators from Colombia
NELLY KIURU
Murui Muina film director and communicator, director of the indigenous communication School ‘Ka+ Jana Uai — The Voice of Our Image’, the delegate for the Macro-Amazon region of the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) to the National Commission for Communication of Indigenous Peoples (CONCIP) and currently the general coordinator of ‘Latin American Coordinator of Indigenous Peoples' Film and Communication’ (CLACPI).
“We are not folclor. We are living Resistance!”
Communication Projects from Colombia
Publications by COICA
