Dear presidents of the nine Amazonian countries and to all world leaders that share responsibility for the plundering of our rainforest,

My name is Nemonte Nenquimo. I am a Waorani woman, a mother, and a leader of my people.

The Amazon rainforest is my home. I am writing you this letter because the fires are raging still. Because the corporations are spilling oil in our rivers. Because the miners are stealing gold (as they have been for 500 years), and leaving behind open pits and toxins. Because the land grabbers are cutting down primary forest so that the cattle can graze, plantations can be grown and the white man can eat. Because our elders are dying from coronavirus, while you are planning your next moves to cut up our lands to stimulate an economy that has never benefited us. Because, 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 you listened to us.
In each of our many hundreds of different languages across the Amazon, we have a word for you – the outsider, the stranger. In my language, WaoTededo, that word is “cowori”. And it doesn’t need to be a bad word. But you have made it so. For us, the word has come to mean (and in a terrible way, your society has come to represent): the white man that knows too little for the power that he wields, and the damage that he causes.

You are probably not used to an Indigenous woman calling you ignorant and, less so, on a platform such as this. But for Indigenous peoples it is clear: the less you know about something, the less value it has to you, and the easier it is to destroy. And by easy, I mean: guiltlessly, remorselessly, foolishly, even righteously. And this is exactly what you are doing to us as Indigenous peoples, to our rainforest territories, and ultimately to our planet’s climate.

It took us thousands of years to get to know the Amazon rainforest. To understand her ways, her secrets, to learn how to survive and thrive with her. And for my people, the Waorani, we have only known you for 70 years (we were “contacted” in the 1950s by American evangelical missionaries), but we are fast learners, and you are not as complex as the rainforest.

When you say that the oil companies have marvellous new technologies that can sip the oil from beneath our lands like hummingbirds sip nectar from a flower, we know that you are lying because we live downriver from the spills. When you say that the Amazon is not burning, we do not need satellite images to prove you wrong; we are choking on the smoke of the fruit orchards that our ancestors planted centuries ago. When you say that you are urgently looking for climate solutions, yet continue to build a world economy based on extraction and pollution, we know you are lying because we are the closest to the land, and the first to hear her cries.

I never had the chance to go to university, and become a doctor, or a lawyer, a politician, or a scientist. My elders are my teachers. The forest is my teacher. And I have learned enough (and I speak shoulder to shoulder with my Indigenous brothers and sisters across the world) to know that you have lost your way, and that you are in trouble (though you don’t fully understand it yet) and that your trouble is a threat to every form of life on Earth.
You forced your civilisation upon us and now look where we are: global pandemic, climate crisis, species extinction and, driving it all, widespread spiritual poverty. In all these years of taking, taking, taking from our lands, you have not had the courage, or the curiosity, or the respect to get to know us. To understand how we see, and think, and feel, and what we know about life on this Earth.
I won’t be able to teach you in this letter, either. But what I can say is that it has to do with thousands and thousands of years of love for this forest, for this place. Love in the deepest sense, as reverence. This forest has taught us how to walk lightly, and because we have listened, learned and defended her, she has given us everything: water, clean air, nourishment, shelter, medicines, happiness, meaning. And you are taking all this away, not just from us, but from everyone on the planet, and from future generations.

It is the early morning in the Amazon, just before first light: a time that is meant for us to share our dreams, our most potent thoughts. And so I say to all of you: the Earth does not expect you to save her, she expects you to respect her. And we, as Indigenous peoples, expect the same.

• Nemonte Nenquimo is cofounder of the Indigenous-led nonprofit organisation Ceibo Alliance, the first female president of the Waorani organisation of Pastaza province and one of Time’s 100 most influential people in the world

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/12/western-worldyour-civilisation-killing-life-on-earth-indigenous-amazon-planet

Debra Bernier is an extraordinary artist from Victoria, Canada. She uses natural materials, such as driftwood, clay, and shells to create mesmerising sculptures. These intricate pieces represent the spirits of nature as human fusing together with the natural material. “When I work with driftwood, I never start with a blank canvas. Each piece of driftwood is already a sculpture, created by the caresses of the waves and wind. The wood tells a story and I try to think of its journey as I hold it in my hand. I extend or shorten the curves and contours that already exist into familiar shapes of animals or peoples’ faces.”

The sculptor is inspired by her love for what is most sacred in the world – children, animals, nature. “The finished pieces are a reflection of not only my life, my family, and children, but of an eternal, sacred connection we all share with nature,” she says.

Debra was in love with the beach and nature from childhood and she is still happy and thankful that she is able to share this love and her art with people. “The little girl in me is still fascinated by the shapes in wood, the sun sparkling on the water, smooth, grey stones, and salty seaweed. Simplicity brings me more happiness than complexity. I hope to share this with others.”

https://www.boredpanda.com/driftwood-spirit-sculptures-debra-bernier/

“My name is Ágnes Herczeg. I was born in Hungary and I still live here in a small town next to the river Danube.

I graduated from the University of Fine Arts in Budapest as a textile restorer. I am interested in the embroidery techniques by which the textiles in museums were made; I have tried many of these during the years. Closest to my heart are lace techniques, I have devoted most ofmy time to studying needle lace and pillow lace.

I started working with lace works in 2013. I mainly use natural threads of plant origin like linen, hemp, cotton, jute, raphia etc. While preparing a lace work, I usually make use of threads of different origin and thickness and I also apply several techniques. I mainly use needle lace technique, which I frequently combine with pillow lace and braiding work.

Preparing needle lace is a time-consuming and delicate work, which requires a high degree of attention. I like preparing laces with very thin threads, for which I used to apply madeira viscose threads, but currently I prefer working with pure silk thread. The contour of the needle lace works is made of thin wires, which enables a suitable stiffness. The pattern and density of the stitches within the contours determines the graphics of the given work, which is a process based completely on improvisation. It is like drawing with the help of stitches. The lace work is dyed afterwards, which might be the most exciting phase of all as this is the part when my work becomes a picture.

The frame of the pictures is made of small branches, bark, coconut shell or any other material of my liking. This “frame” constitutes a compositional part of the picture.

I lay high emphasis on planning as I have to provide not solely visual content for the picture but also elaborate its structural elements and the order of work phases as well; which may sometimes be as complicated as solving a riddle.

It is very important for me to be able to continually learn during my work and perfectionise my techniques, as well as to try new materials“.

w

http://www.agnesherczeg.com
https://www.instagram.com/agnesherczeg_lace/