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Tashka Yawanawá (Sharp exhale)
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(Sharp exhale)
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(Sharp exhale)
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(Sharp exhale)
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(Singing)
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(Singing ends)
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(Sharp exhale)
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I'm Tashka Yawanawá.
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I'm here with my wife.
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I come from the Yawanawá community,
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which is located in the state of Acre
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in the Brazilian Amazon.
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Takes some days to arrive here.
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I just did the song
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to reconnect us
to the spirit of the rainforest.
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From immemorial time,
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my people live in the Yawanawá territory.
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We see this holistic way
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of how nature is.
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Nature, to us, belongs
to the whole of humanity.
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And we Yawanawá see
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the environment, the forest, as alive.
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But everything is always a challenge.
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Mostly now, because I think
many of you know
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that the Amazon now is on fire.
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That affects all of us.
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Destroying the Amazon does not affect
just the indigenous people,
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because we are all connected.
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Whatever we do in my community,
if I burn everything,
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it's going to affect it here,
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when the snow comes here at Christmas.
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If you pollute here,
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it's going to affect it when the rain
comes to my country.
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I used to say we all belong
to the global village.
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I used to say, Amazon belongs to humanity,
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and also that humanity needs to take care
as the indigenous do in the world.
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And for this reason,
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today is a time to wake, unite us.
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We Yawanawá are doing our part.
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We take care of Mother Earth.
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And now, I will give to my wife.
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Laura Yawanawá: We are here
with our hearts crying.
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I am smiling here, but my heart is crying,
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because a lot of our forests
are being destroyed.
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And I just want to give you a message.
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This crisis is giving
humanity two options.
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One option is you help to end,
to destroy and exterminate
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all our forests and all
our cultures that go with it.
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Or, we transform this crisis
into an opportunity
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to empower indigenous people,
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to support indigenous people
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and to save the rainforest
and their cultures.
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And how can you do that?
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We have, the Yawanawá,
we created a life plan,
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which is our strategic planning
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that tells us the steps
of how we want to secure our territory.
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We take care of about
200,000 hectares of rainforest.
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But now it's under threat.
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So this life plan shows the steps
for us to secure our land,
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our biodiversity,
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our culture, our education.
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I invite you all,
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I invite all companies,
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I invite all governments,
all civil society,
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to listen to indigenous peoples,
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to go back to our roots.
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We have been here
for many, many ... for centuries.
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And we have been trying
to scream to the world
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that we need to protect
our territory, our nature.
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And you never listen to us.
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Never.
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I guess this crisis is teaching humanity
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that now you need to listen to us
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and to support indigenous
peoples directly,
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to support their initiatives directly.
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So that's the message
that I would love to leave to you.
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That indigenous people have the answer,
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and if you want to save the Amazon,
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we have to take action now.
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TY: (Sharp exhale)
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(Applause)