Dear Community,

Please be welcome to join WECAN from April 15- 20 as we head to New York City to advocate at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) twenty-third session. The theme for this year focuses on emphasizing the voices of Indigenous youth and enhancing Indigenous rights.

We will be advocating and hosting events virtually and in-person to highlight the rights and solutions of Indigenous women leaders. More details below! 

UNPFII In-Person Event: Indigenous Women Upholding Indigenous Rights and Leading Climate Solutions

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

5:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT

777 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY

Indigenous women and youth leaders from around the globe will converge to discuss and uplift the urgent issues facing their communities and our planet. Speakers will discuss and share the impacts of fossil fuels, deforestation, and the climate crisis in their communities and how they are implementing climate solutions, practicing traditional knowledge systems, upholding Indigenous rights, promoting the right to self-determination, and advancing policies and practices of care and climate justice. Interpretation in English and Spanish during the event / Interpretación en inglés y español durante el evento.

Confirmed Speakers include:

• Dr. Crystal A Cavalier, Ed.D, MPA (Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation), Co-Founder, 7 Directions of Service, Turtle Island/USA
• Taily Terena (Terena Nation), Indigenous rights activist, Environmental Health Program Consultant for the International Indian Treaty Council, WECAN Coordinator, Brazil
• Casey Camp Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member, Turtle Island/USA
• Olivia Bisa Tirko (Chapra Nation), President of the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Chapra Nation, Peru
• President Whitney Gravelle (Bay Mills Indian Community), President and Executive Council Bay Mills Indian Community, Turtle Island/USA
• Majo Andrade Cerda (Kichwa), from the Kichwa People of Serena, Leader of Economy and community development of CONFENIAE (Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon)
• Shirley Krenak (Krenak), Founder of the Shirley Djukurna Krenak Institute, Co-founder of ANMIGA, Brazil
• Luzbeidy Monterrosa (Wayuu), Filmmaker and Founder of Shinyak Kashikai, Colombia
• With moderation by Osprey Orielle Lake, Founder and Executive Director of Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), Turtle Island/USA

UNPFII Virtual Event: Indigenous Youth Leading Solutions

for Climate Justice

Thursday, April 18, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM EDT

During this virtual event, young Indigenous women leaders from around the world will gather to share their strategies and solutions for addressing fossil fuel extraction, deforestation and the climate crisis. Drawing upon Indigenous knowledge, panelists will discuss efforts to defend Indigenous rights, champion self-determination, and promote climate justice and care for the Earth. Let’s take action to support young women globally who are fighting for their future and imagining a different world!

Confirmed Speakers include:

• Pema Wangmo Lama (Mugum), Program Coordinator, National Indigenous Women's Federation (NIWF), Nepal
• Morgan Brings Plenty (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe), Environmental Justice Activist, Digital Organizing Fellow, Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), Turtle Island/USA
• Judy Kipkenda (Ogiek), Founder of Koibatek Ogiek Women and Youth Network (KOWYN), Kenya
• Sheelah Bearfoot (Chiricahua Apache) MHS, Environmental Justice Advocate, Turtle Island/USA
• Elle Rávdná Näkkäläjärvi (Sámi), Member of the Norwegian Sámi Association’s Youth Committee, Norway
• With moderation by Osprey Orielle Lake, Founder and Executive Director of Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN), Turtle Island/USA

In-Person Book Event: The Story is in Our Bones: How Worldviews and Climate Justice Can Remake a World in Crisis

Friday, April 19

7:00 - 9:00 PM EDT

Patagonia UWS, 426 Columbus Ave, New York, NY

Join WECAN founder and author Osprey Orielle Lake for an evening of transformative discussion with Indigenous leaders Taily Terena (Terena Nation) and Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), and a special presentation of Osprey’s new book The Story is in Our Bones: How Worldviews and Climate Justice can Remake a World in Crisis—hosted by Patagonia. Space is limited. RSVP at the button above!

Protect the Water Protectors:

Rally featuring and led by the Standing Rock Youth Council

Tuesday, April 16 at 4:30pm EDT

Meet Up Point: Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza

(47th Street & United Nations Plaza)

NoDAPL is a global Indigenous led movement protecting land and water from the fossil fuel industries that encroach on Indigenous sovereignty. 

Important words from the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Youth Council:

"We as the future need clean drinking water. We continue to uphold the Fort laramie Treaties designed to protect our livelihood as long as the river flow and grass is green. Shutting Down DAPL is just one step in making amends for the warfare tactics enacted by the governing systems that have made us marginalized in our homelands."

WECAN is honored to support the collective organizing for this action, please join us in calling for the protection of water protectors and demanding a shut down of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).

Indigenous Leadership in the Rights of Nature Movement

Friday, April 19, 2024

12:00 - 1:00pm EDT

Location: Henry Luce Foundation

REGISTER FOR THE EVENT HERE!

Organized by the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) with the support of WECAN. Featured speaker is GARN Indigenous Council Chairwoman, Casey Camp-Horinek. WECAN is honored to serve on the Executive Committee for GARN.

Join us in raising your voice along with hundreds of thousands across the United States in calling for meaningful protections for mature and old-growth forests across all federal public lands. 

On Earth Day 2022, the U.S. Administration announced Executive Order 14072 which acknowledges the vital role of Mature and Old-Growth forests on federal lands in combating the climate crisis. These forests are essential for safeguarding biodiversity, protecting Indigenous homelands, and ensuring a livable future for all generations. The Executive Order called for identifying, inventorying, and conserving mature and old-growth trees across federal lands. We need your help urging this administration to live up to that promise by delivering lasting protections for these precious forests. We are calling for enforceable protections against commercial logging for old-growth and mature forests – the old-growth of the future – across all federally managed forests, including the Tongass, the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world. 

The Climate Forest Coalition, which WECAN is a part of, is running a petition through Arbor Day (April 26, 2024) urging the U.S. Administration to permanently end the commercial exchange of mature and old-growth forests across all federal forests. 

Please join us in adding your name to the petition to ensure that our forests and communities remain resilient in the face of climate chaos. 

On April 24th and 25th, groups, including WECAN, are going to take massive, creative, disruptive nonviolent direct action to demand an end to Wall Street's financing of the climate crisis. 

To get involved, please join a Mass Action Call to plug into the actions, get involved, and take action in the fight against climate chaos.

Date: Thursday, April 11th

Time: 7:30-9 PM EST

RSVP: https://bit.ly/massactioncall411

Join us as we discuss our plans for the upcoming actions and how you can play a crucial role in challenging the financiers of climate chaos. Together, we can hold these institutions accountable and push for real change.

On March 1, 2024, the City Council of Outes (Galicia) in Spain unanimously adopted the Declaration of Rights of the Tins River, which recognizes the river as having rights within the scope of the Outes Municipality—making it the first river in Spain to have its rights officially recognized!

The Declaration establishes 10 rights of the Tins river and 14 commitments of residents so that these rights are respected. This was a citizen-led effort that compliments the many communities, regions, and countries worldwide who are recognize the important of Rights of Nature in protecting biodiverse ecosystems and ensuring a healthy and just climate future.

Read more about this initative here: https://ecojurisprudence.org/initiatives/town-of-serra-de-outes-galicia-spain-declaration-of-the-rights-of-the-tins-river/

Please consider supporting WECAN as we continue to uplift the leadership and solutions of women worldwide fighting for climate justice and the defense of the planet for current and future generations.