42-4 Respecting Our Science and Ways of Knowing

Climate change affects Indigenous Peoples at disproportionate rates and impacts traditional lifeways and food sovereignty. On August 24-26, 2018, more than 60 Indigenous community members and experts from Xhidza  (Zapoteca), Quechua, Zapoteca, Kaqchikel, Ayuuk (Mixe), Dine’, Nahua, Otomí, Navajo, Santa Clara Tewa, Yaqui, Binizá (Zapoteca), Oneida, Sami, K’iche, Tacana, Aymara, and Mixteco communities met to discuss climate change, traditional knowledge, and food sovereignty in Ixtlán de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico.

The follwing are excerpts of interviews conducted at Respecting Our Traditional Science and Ways of Knowing event. Áslat Holmberg (SAMI) MEMBER OF THE SAMI COUNCIL, FINLAND

Everyone has the right to freedom of expression; to hold, seek, and share ideas without interference. Indigenous Peoples have been stewards of communication, passing down knowledge orally through many generations. They are experts of their media. Community radio has been a growing element in Indigenous Peoples exercising their rights and revitalizing their cultures, languages, and traditions.

“Coffee is as if it  belongs to everyone, because we all cut it.” — Paula Reyes Pérez