#ChantOurStruggles
“You look at the mountains, full of riches so you’re told,
Do you think of the children or is it only the gold?”
These lyrics from the song “Remember Your Children” illustrates the struggles of Indigenous Peoples — the oppression brought about by the deluge of large scale mining, plantations, massive logging, dam constructions, park developments and other profit-driven projects, and the accompanying violations on human rights, criminalization and even killings of Indigenous Peoples who are only protecting their ancestral lands.
As we celebrate the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 2019, we as indigenous youth take a stand and unite in defense of our ancestral land and Indigenous Peoples Human Rights Defenders.
We, the youth, are most affected by the current situation of our fellow indigenous peoples. We are the ones who will inherit the results of the destructive projects brought into our indigenous territories. We are also responsible for the kind of society that we will pass to the future generations. With this, the future depends on us.
We call on our indigenous youth as well to continue our campaign Indigenous Lands in Indigenous Hands (ILIH), an advocacy campaign and slogan encouraging all indigenous youth worldwide and advocates of indigenous peoples’ issues to unite in defending what is left of our natural resources and in reclaiming our right to self-determination. We believe that we may be able to better protect and develop in our own self-determined way our remaining natural resources once the indigenous lands are reclaimed by the indigenous peoples. Once this is achieved, we may be able to revitalize our culture, determine the appropriate education for the indigenous peoples, develop our indigenous practices including those that are related to health and it is easier for us to unite against militarization and other forms of violations against indigenous peoples, including the women and youth.
Our ancestors already did their part defending our indigenous territories for us to still witness and enjoy what the land and nature could offer. Now it is our role and time to continue these meaningful struggles in defending and appropriately developing what is left of our natural resources and in reclaiming our inherent rights to self-determination for us, for the future generations and for the welfare of a democratic society.
“Remember your children, remember our future.
Remember your children, remember mother nature.”
