Indigenous Women’s Organizing, Advocacy and Empowerment

           

Photo Credit Institute of Gender and Development Studies, UWI St. Augustine

 The Indigenous Geographies Workshop held on March 30^th, 2017, was hosted by the Institute of Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) of the University of the West Indies. Panel 3 (3:00pm – 4:30pm) focused on Women’s Organizing, Advocacy and Empowerment. The discussions focused on 4 key speakers, Annelita from Bolivia, Marie-Jose, Nelcia, and Aurelia from Guyana. The discussions were focussed on indigenous persons, and women’s rights. Many key issues were brought to light which had a link to the beliefs of the author of the text used for the GEOG 3116 course Frantz Fanon.

            The first speaker was Annelita, an indigenous woman from Belize who spoke on her growing up as an indigenous woman in Belize, and shared her background with those in attendance. She highlighted the marginalization that occurred, as well as the domestic violence she witnessed growing up faced by her mother. Annelita explained that while this saddened her, was the fuel for her to continue her work to empower women on their rights. Her work revolved around the establishment of a community radio in 6 communities, which gave rise to women having a tool to express their ideas and concerns. As with most cases, in the communities men had the leadership roles and the women occupied passive roles. This made the radio a source of empowerment for the women, and it served to mobilise and rapport them. Annelita held meetings at the communities, where talks were on various themes. She also showed where they had artistic expressions in the form of drawings, and played clips of them speaking on domestic violence. They viewed domestic violence on all forms in the household, and many said they have seen or experienced domestic abuse, with the main cause being alcohol. They did say at times they have humbled themselves in efforts to stop domestic violence occurring, but said that it is possible to stop with some understanding by all parties involved. Fanonian ideologies are seen throughout her work as she was able to mobilize the women to speak out against the oppressive nature, as well as where some younger women fought back against the abuse, which can be linked to the oppressed fighting against the colonizers in The Wretched of the Earth, where Fanon stated that Violence can only give in when confronted with greater violence,

            The second speaker, Marie-Jose, was part of the Association of Indigenous Women’s Needs, an organization based in Suriname, which is involved in helping indigenous women who are forced to leave their homes due to marriage. In 1992, the women came together to move back into the community, and now are engaged in the formulation of land rights for indigenous persons. She stated that for this to be successful there had to be unity within the indigenous community. They are also fighting against climate change and geo politics. This works with the beliefs of Fanon, as it shows the oppressed coming together to fight for a common goal, which was achieved through unity and dedication of all involved parties, and fighting against decolonization.

            The third speaker, Nelicia Robinson, is a community educator in St. Vincent who works together with the Santa Rosa Carib Community in Arima. She spoke on the easiest ways to destroy a person is by destroying their language, but the indigenous took the ways and language of the colonizers, and are not beginning to say “no” and speaking out on the injustices they face. She highlighted a Kalinago woman, Terisa Banair, who exposed the roles of women in politics. She also showed how 15 indigenous women in St. Vincent took up arms against their dissatisfaction by the rising costs living, where they stormed the courthouse with sticks and stones, they overturned cars and freed prisoners before they were confronted by 200 male police officers to subdue them. This was very representative of Fanon, as it showed that the colonized can find freedom in violence due to its cleansing force. It also represented oppressed using violence as their means of being heard against the colonizers, and showed that the theme where one colonizer killed leads to entire villages being massacred, as 200 police were called in to handle the 15women.

            The fourth and final presentation was done by Aurelia from Guyana, who played a video which showed that indigenous persons in Guyana had no claim to land due to their lack of documentation. Over a two-year period, she and three others went to indigenous communities in Guyana (Region 1&2) and went about mapping the areas. These areas were home to the Carib, Arawak and Warahoo people. Reports were made and then taken back to the villages for validation, where it was then sent and finalised. Maps were also validated, sent and finalized before compiling all the data into one report and provided the results to the government and communities to resolve land issues. Work was also done in Region 8, and set to start in Region 7 in 2017. This approach reflected the colonized persons approach to fighting for their land which the colonizers want to take from them. This approach however utilized no violence, but has the same underlying theme, which is land ownership for the oppressed.

            Based on the reading of the Wretched of the Earth and attending the IDGS workshop, it was amazing how relevant Frantz Fanon’s work is to modern day issues even as the book is so dated. It can be used as a tool for all oppressed persons to use in their quest for empowerment in the modern-day era. The Workshop also highlighted the many issues faced by indigenous persons, which is not broadcasted in the media, but yet showed how hard they were willing to work to get their fair treatment.