In Conversation with Katty Gualinga
Katty Gualinga is a member of the Kichwa Indigenous Community of Sarayacu, which has inhabited the Ecuadorian Amazon for many centuries. As a youth leader, she actively engages in various projects and topics within her region, working to improve the lives of her people and protect the rainforest.
D: Hello Katty, could you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your experience as a leader of a youth indigenous organization?
K: My name is Katty Gualinga. I am from the Kichwa community of Kali Kali, belonging to the indigenous Kichwa people of Sarayacu in Ecuador. I am currently 23 years old and am a youth leader of the organization Samaruta, called in Kichwa language as “Sarayaku Maltarunakuna Tandanakuy,” which is a youth indigenous organization from this region.
In April 2023, the community appointed me to this leadership position. I am super happy and excited to be in the government of TAYJASARUTA, knowing the history behind the Sarayacu people and our collective resistance.
D: Could you tell us a bit about the Sarayacu people and the collective resistance you mentioned?
K: The Sarayacu people have a long history of collective struggle in Ecuador. In 1992, the Sarayacu community participated in a historic march in which different communities walked from the city of Puyo to Quito, the countrie´s capital (almost 300 km). The objective of this mobilization was to meet with the President of the Republic and demand legal recognition of the territories where we live. All indigenous nationalities participated in this event, even though many of our elders did not speak Spanish, which posed a great challenge and effort to communicate and demand that we also have the same rights for education, health, etc., as the rest of the citizens of this country. And that Mother Earth also needs us to treat her kindly.
The Sarayacu community was also the first community to win a lawsuit against the Ecuadorian state in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in 2012. The ruling marked the culmination of a long legal battle the Sarayaku people initiated when a foreign oil company was allowed to invade our territories in the 1990s for oil exploitation. This was a landmark victory and set a legal precedent. We are still fighting to this day to defend life on this planet. We understand the territory where we live as a sacred spirit that feels, loves, and is alive.
Nowadays, everyone is only thinking about generating profits at the expense of the destruction of Mother Earth. That is why we take care of Mother Earth and work to prevent oil or mining companies — among other transnational corporations — from exploiting it solely for profit.
D: What causes do you care about and mobilize for?
K: I have always been interested in the rights of nature, which I believe are extremely important issue. The environment doesn’t have a voice and I think that’s why those of us who are on the front-lines and close to nature, need to be the official spokespersons to convey how we should take care of our environment. Indigenous people have always been considered crazy for saying that trees transmit energy and that they have feelings. And that rivers and lakes have life. Right now, the environment is holding us accountable for our actions. It may not affect many people, and it will not affect wealthy business people, but we who are here (in the Amazon) are feeling greatly the consequences of how we have been treating Mother Nature. Therefore, it’s important that we speak up and for our voices to be heard to help the world understand the seriousness of what is happening. Nowadays, there is a lot of talk when it comes to climate change, for instance actions and measures we need to improve to change things are not happening as they should.
I am also focused on the issue of women’s rights. Indigenous women have realized over the years that — although it is regrettable to admit — we did not have the same rights as men. Women were abused and were facing violence on a daily base. It was seen as normal. Fortunately, I believe that things are changing now, but we have a lot to work on still to improve in this area. So, I am also very focused on these issues. I try to educate myself and stay informed about this topic to strengthen my community.
D: Indigenous communities have been talking about land rights and the need to change our relationship with nature for a very long time. Do you think currently, in a context where climate change is such a hot topic, indigenous communities have a voice that is being heard regarding these issues?
K: It’s encouraging to see that we have more channels where we can express our voices and be heard. This has improved over the years. But the issue here is that we are just talking, and are not making real changes to improve the situation. Communication is one of the most important tools we have as human beings to convey our feelings and understand our realities. I know that for us the situation has improved compared to previous years when we were dismissed as crazy for seeing nature as alive. That´s great, but if we only keep talking for the next 50 years, the Amazon rainforest will undoubtedly continue deteriorating. I believe we should take action and adopt sustainable and responsible consumption. But above all, we need actions and to stop just talking.
D: Are you familiar with the concept of intergenerational justice? How would you define/interpret it?
K: I hadn’t heard that specific term before, but within indigenous knowledge I believe we have a similar understanding. We have always said that our grandparents left us this space, this nature with its protective beings and spirits. Just as we have received it, we have to pass it on to the coming generations. We cannot think only about ourselves. We cannot think only about our immediate present. We have this view: this space we received from our ancestors full of life, spirits, culture, and art, belongs also to our children.
D: Why should we pay more attention to the criticisms and suggestions advanced by indigenous communities and indigenous youth regarding climate change?
K: Our life is not just about us, and the place we live is not only ours. The natural environment does not belong only to indigenous peoples. Our forests are not only ours. Our forests are connected to the rest of the Earth and depend on the rest of the Earth. You ask why you should listen to us. I think nature is giving signals, but they are not being understood.
These are enough reasons to start paying more attention to indigenous voices. We can’t keep waiting or asking for reasons or explanations for why we should change. We need urgent action to continue existing. Otherwise, in a few years, we will have many diseases that we won’t find any explanation for and much more destruction. As indigenous communities, we have already been living differently and providing ideas on how we can improve this world where we live. The voices of indigenous youth living within territories can deliver a message of awareness.
