"The power of our struggle and resistance in defense of our worldview … has guaranteed that we have not faltered."
Aura Tegría, U’wa representative and lawyer
We are extremely proud to have accompanied Colombia’s U’wa people for twenty years.
Last month, our friend and ally Aura Tegría traveled from her home in U’wa territory of the cloud forests of Colombia on a multi-city tour in the U.S. Aura brought with her the U’wa message of respect for Mother Earth and generational fight as indigenous peoples to protect her lands from oil drilling and other resource extraction.
As Aura related in her speech to our Amplify gala: “According to our beliefs, the world is a house that is held up by four fundamental pillars, each of which plays a vital role for the survival of the natural world. It is necessary for us to teach this message to our non-indigenous brothers and sisters. This way their hearts and mindsets – full of greed – will change and not continue harming our Mother Earth. Once the blood of Mother Earth [oil], disappears, there will not be enough money to buy back the life of nature, there won’t be any way to bring back the natural harmony, nor for a world to exist in no matter how much money humankind has.”
This delegation, like all Amazon Watch work with the U’wa, was carried out in close collaboration with other ally organizations. This tour was a joint effort by colleagues in Mujer U’wa, Colombia Human Rights Committee – DC and EarthRights International. We are also grateful for all the support from Mario Murillo in New York City!
One of the key objectives of the tour was to raise funds for a project the U’wa had prioritized – in this case a new House of Ancestral Wisdom to be built in the growing community of La Salina. To date we have not yet raised our goal of $10,000. You can still help! Please make a donation here.
Thank you!
