Indigenous Youth Voices from Across Asia on Defending Land and Reclaiming the Future

Last August 12, in commemoration of 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗮𝘆 and the 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱’𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀, the 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 (𝗔𝗬𝗜𝗣𝗡) brought together Indigenous youth leaders, advocates, and allies for the webinar “𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐀𝐬𝐢𝐚.”

The webinar created a space for Indigenous youth to speak from their own experiences—sharing the struggles, hopes, and realities of defending our lands, cultures, and identities.

For our first batch of speaker highlights, we bring you powerful messages from:

𝗚𝘂𝗻𝗷𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗸𝗶𝗿 𝗠𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮, Chairperson of AYIPN

𝗩𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗡𝗮𝗹𝗮 𝗔𝗿𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮, Youth Representative of the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP)

𝗝𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗻, Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) and founding member of AYIPN

Here are some of the messages they shared during the webinar.