By Mariana Campos Rivera (CS Intern)
“Blessed is the water
that makes the flowers of this threatened land grow
because in the face of death it grants beauty.”
-Fredy Chicangana (Quechua), Poet
Water is sacred for many Indigenous Peoples worldwide and a central aspect of community cultural, social, spiritual, and physical well being. Water and its governance stand at the forefront of the multiple socio-environmental and cultural challenges that the world faces today. Therefore, organizing and collaborating to safeguard water protection and access for everyone, especially the most vulnerable, is crucial. Access to safely managed water services is not a reality for over 25% of the population, which constitutes around 2 billion people. Access to water is a human right that reduces illness, mortality, and even educational inaccessibility, especially among young women, children, and people living in rural areas.
Global crises like climate change add another layer of complexity to water safety challenges. Changing rainfall patterns, more frequent and intense droughts, and melting glaciers threaten water security and safety worldwide and exacerbate other problems, such as food insecurity, forced displacement, and loss and damage of human lives and local livelihoods.
In this month’s spotlight, Cultural Survival showcases the vital work that our Indigenous Youth Fellows do in conserving, protecting, and managing water in their communities. Through different projects and activities—talks, radio broadcasts, reforestation days, forums, and training sessions—these youth engage in working alongside their communities, especially other youth, to learn about water, the impacts of climate change and mining activities on water security, and what this represents for their communities. Their work shows that water safeguarding is intertwined with Nature’s protection, local communities' well-being, and sustainable economies.
Gipsy Fernández Zúñiga (Cabecar) - Ujarrás, Costa Rica
Ujarrás is an Indigenous Territory located in a forestal region in Costa Rica. A region with many conservation areas, the territory faces several challenges, from forest fires to illegal hunting, logging, and resource extraction. The Cabecar Indigenous communities who live in Ujarrás have inhabited the place for at least 3,000 years. In Ujarrás, the Elders still speak the Cabecar language. However, this language is less spoken among youth. Gipsy, one of the young people living in Ujarrás and who belongs to the Jalaglowak Clan, developed a project focused on creating sustainable solutions to climate change in her home community. She sought to implement practices that reduce emissions and ensure sustainability. Her inspiration to do this work started when she learned more about the impacts of climate change during her University studies on Natural Resources Management. Thanks to this knowledge, Gipsy’s curiosity sparked and her passion for increasing people’s awareness and finding community-based solutions was fueled.
During her project, Gipsy always aimed to guarantee the protection of the most vulnerable in her community. For this, she focused on three main objectives: identify and monitor negative impacts, evaluate risks, and develop inclusive and accessible activities. Some of her activities focused on reforesting the land with native trees, advancing environmental education, and creating brochures and posters about the importance of water management. Although at first challenging, due to heavy rainfalls and low participation, Gipsy’s passion and engagement paid off. By learning how to create more engaging materials and talks, how to engage kids, and how to communicate more effectively, and thanks to the support of her family, her project started to spark interest. In the end, she welcomed many children to her talks and developed collaborations with people from her community and other Indigenous territories in the region.
Gipsy shares with us: “Conserving the river is important for the Cabecar people because we believe that it connects with the spirits of the mountain and because it is essential for the ritual baths that are part of our culture. These beliefs show how essential the river is for the territory, for people, and for wildlife. Various water sources within the territory are important for the species that inhabit it and these are also threatened by different factors.
The community has tried to conserve its culture, but also the environment where that culture lives. Many people cultivate corn, beans, and vegetables and create crafts, like bags made with cabuya, and baskets.”
Environmental Education Talks with People from Ujarrás
Talks with children from Ujarrás about sustainable water management
Reyna Samanta Casildo Álvarez (Garífuna), Honduras
Reyna Samanta lives in Buena Vista, Honduras. She is passionate about the true participation of Indigenous and Afro-descendant people in political and public spheres, youth empowerment, and advocacy for having Indigenous and Afro-descendant people's worldviews and ideas of development included transversally and respectfully in her country's policies.
Reyna’s passion for advocacy is rooted in her reflections on how crucial and urgent it is to empower and inspire other Garífunas, especially youth, so they can organize and participate in creating public policies that respect and guarantee their worldviews and rights. Reyna’s interest in advancing youth engagement started when she noticed and experienced many challenges in her community, from territorial dispossession to a lack of inclusion, unemployment, climate change vulnerability, and educational services. This sparked Reyna’s passion for increasing the youth’s capacity and leadership by developing a project focused on providing knowledge and awareness to other Garífuna young people.
She organized four forums titled Climate Change and Sustainable Development: Looking towards the Garífuna Communities. The topics covered during the forums were climate change, renewable energies, just transitions, and safeguarding of water sources, among others. The events took place in several community educational centers and were targeted at young people that, through their academic or professional activities, could disseminate the information and train more youth. One of the goals of her project was to actively discuss with other youth how to face challenges by developing creative strategies, such as creating sustainable agricultural practices in the face of climate change by managing water effectively.
Digital poster to promote Forum on Climate Change and Sustainable Development in Garífuna Communities
International Forum in the Garífuna Community of Santa Rosa de Aguan, Honduras
Community Initiative by Indigenous Youth from Itombwe (Batwa, Haka, Mbuti, Nyindu), Democratic Republic of Congo
The Itombwe Youth Collective consists of five young people (four women and one man) from the Itombwe region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. They have embarked on a project that advocates for the rights of Indigenous peoples, promotes sustainable water management, and fights against pollution in the Elila River caused by the exploitation of transitional minerals. The Elila River, located in the Itombwe forest, feeds numerous water bodies and sustains the lives of Indigenous communities and other more-than-human living beings. Yet, Indigenous voices have long been absent from decision-making processes in the region. The pollution of the Elila River has led to a rise in waterborne diseases, a decline in fish populations, and reduced crop yields. In response, Indigenous youth collaborated with a local organization to create impactful capacity-building and advocacy initiatives for defending the Elila River.
The collective organized a 3-day training session for 40 participants (13 women), including representatives from mining companies, local authorities, and Indigenous community members. During this session, they engaged participants in discussing potential strategies for safe waste disposal and management while learning about the mining code and land law. The training helped communities develop a plan for responsibly managing chemical waste, further enhancing their ability to advocate for their rights. The sessions also allowed Indigenous communities to approach local authorities and mining companies and formulate recommendations confidently. Additionally, awareness-raising sessions were held across ten villages in the Itombwe region, emphasizing the rights of Indigenous peoples and demanding that mining companies operate sustainably. Following this initiative, a local committee was established to oversee the management plan and ensure recommendations were implemented. Finally, the collective produced six radio shows that broadcast information about mining laws and the rights of Indigenous peoples, ensuring their voices resonate far and wide.
Awareness sessions about the rights of Indigenous people in the face of mining companies’ activities.
Training sessions to develop a chemical waste management plan in the Itombwe region
These projects showcase the interest and crucial role of Indigenous youth in advancing Indigenous water management, advocating for Indigenous rights, and supporting local livelihoods. As Gipsy mentions “water and Indigenous territories represent cultural resistance and are the foundation for biodiversity.”
As we wrap up this spotlight, we are happy to share an important story that Gipsy kindly shared with us. This story is a traditional oral tale about Dinamá Siwa, the water tiger. Dinamá Siwa is a monster that can shift its fur according to the river’s moods and who takes people who cross, bathe, or stroll too close to its realm. Dinamá Siwa does this because he is searching for the precious cacao hidden within the knees, elbows, and foreheads of the Cabécar people. This story carries an important message: pay attention to the wisdom of the Elders, care for one another, and learn to observe the river’s ever-changing waters.
Dinamá siwa oral story
The Elders say that Dinamá (the water tiger) looks like a tiger, except that its tail is hairy and identical to the wild sugarcane (juká) flower. It is said that this monster takes the color of its fur from the water. If the river is dry, its color turns black; if the river is normal, not too dry or too full, it takes on a grayish hue; in winter, when rivers swell and their waters turn yellow, this monster turns reddish-yellow. When Dinamá takes a child, it is said that he ate tender cacao; if he took a young adult, it is said that he ate ripe cacao; if he took an older person, it is said that he ate ripe cacao. Dinamá appears to his victims when they cross a river, bathe, or even walk near it, immediately raising waves or a head of water to trap them. Victims generally have marks on their foreheads, elbows, and knees, which are where they get the cacao, the prized tsirú they feed on. That's why when someone drowns, the Cabécar elders check those three areas first. If there's a mark, it's because Dinamá killed them; if not, then they drowned. We Indigenous people have a cacao seed on our knees, elbows, and forehead, which is why Dinamá cuts them there.
Where the rivers flow into the sea lives an Elder named Olomasá, who is in charge of ensuring that the Dinamá, who lives in Kadiar, doesn't enter the world of the Ditsö to eat the cacao (Ditso, Cabécar, and Bribri). Olomasa has a boiling pot of water to keep the Dinamá out, but Dinamá, hungry and thirsty, tries again and again. But the old man falls seriously ill when the laurels and wild cane are in bloom. Then the flames subside, and the pot cools down. Meanwhile, he takes the opportunity to jump over the pot. The water duck, the otter, and the kingfisher awaken him. They tell Tachi Olomasa that Dinamá has already escaped. The latter tells his collaborators, the otter and the kingfisher... "Go chase him while I call Serike." When they have found him, they rush out to inform the old man. Olomasa immediately sends Sërkë on the mission of catching and returning him. Sërkë goes upriver, catches Dinamá, and brings him back. He is handed into Olomasa's hand, and she immediately takes the great monster, who is thrown into the boiling pot, and thus Tachi Olomasa finishes eating him.
Our ancestors have ancestrally fought against this monster and managed to catch him; That's why we know it exists and that its body is hot, that it burns, and that its teeth are red, like chili peppers. Those who killed it didn't survive; those who witnessed it tell stories. These stories teach us that the Ditso have many enemies from whom we must take care and protect ourselves, following the advice of our elders. For example, when it rains a lot, we shouldn't go near the river; when it rains and it's sunny, we shouldn't go fishing or swimming because we risk being taken by the Dinamá…
