“We need to identify the processes that so often lead people who are honestly seeking to resist and destroy colonization to unconsciously re-create the elements of their own oppression.”
John Mohawk (jahn mow-hawk), Seneca philosopher and activist
“Because we were sovereign nations we had to start fighting for the land the Creator said was where we were supposed to live.”
Leon Shenandoah (lee-on shen-on-dough-wah), Onondaga chief
“I have come here to deeply listen to what the seeds have to share.”
Rowen White (row-when wite), Mohawk seedkeeper
“Every human being comes from an indigenous people.”
Tom Porter (tahm pour-terr), founder of the Mohawk community of Kanatsiohareke (gah-nah-jo-ha-lay-gay)
“We are a people who sat under a tree for a long time…talking about the importance of community.”
Oren Lyons (aw-ren lie-unz), Onondaga faithkeeper
“We are responsible for seven generations, in my tradition, seven generations into the future.”
Audrey Shenandoah (aw-dree shen-on-dough-wah), Onondaga clanmother
“In the old times the people of the tundra used stars for everything… There was no light, so they navigated using stars.”
Zoya Tokareva (zoy-ah toh-kah-ray-vah), Nutendli community member
“I wouldn’t want to live in the village. I’m there for three days and I want to go home. Life is too fast and I soon get fed up.”
Marina Rultina (mah-ree-nah ruhl-tee-nah), Chukchi reindeer herder
“I sang the songs that belong to my tribe. Some of these songs are the relics of the last century... Unfortunately I’m probably the last one to sing the songs of the tribe.”
Larisa Ryskyntonaw (lah-ris-sah riss-kahn-tow-nah), Chukchi journalist and teacher
“It was not a romantic choice for us to return to the old ways... We want to feed ourselves. Hunting whales is what gives us pride. It is what reminds us of who we are.”
Vladimir Etylin (vlah-dee-meer eh-tih-lin), Chukchi head of Chukotka Revival
“Reindeer herding makes this world richer. One day the mining of gold and other minerals will come to an end here. Reindeer herding will always be able to go on.”
Grigorii Tynakergav (grig-or-ee tie-nack-er-gahv), Chukchi reindeer herder
“Our Elders did not pray, they just talked with nature. I can do the same.”
Dmitri Nikolayevich Begunov (duh-me-tree nick-oh-lie-ah-vitch beg-oo-nov), reindeer herder
“When our families conduct their rituals, we always give offerings to sun. It is the source of light in our lives.”
Jegor Nutendli (yay-gor new-tend-lee), knowledge holder
“Nature has soul. Body rests when you are in nature. It is wonderful to walk on your own land.”
Anna Aleksandrovna Kaurgina (ah-nah ah-lek-sahn-drawv-nah kaw-oor-ggee-nah), climate activist
“It’s as if our history has been deleted because, when we go to a museum, there are rock paintings but it does not say that they are by the Sami. ”
Tuomas Aslak Juuso (too-oh-mahss as-lack joo-so), Vice-President of the Sami Parliament
“The Sami have no obligation whatsoever to explain every root and branch of our culture in order to justify our demand to be taken seriously.”
Petra Laiti (peh-trah leye-tee), Chairperson of the Sami youth organization
“We have always been forced to defend our rights. We refuse to look away while the Finnish state tramples on the rights of our people.”
Jussa Seurujärvi (juh-sah soor-ah-jog-ghee), Sami reindeer herder
“We live in a society where resistance takes place every day. It’s not anything new for us, and this railroad plan is not the first thing we must take a stand against.”
Petra-Biret Magga-Vars (peh-trah-beye-ret ma-gah-vahrs), Sami reindeer-herder
“The roots are where it starts… Sun, moon, land, animals are important… I am not the main thing here, the human.”
Ursula Länsman (oor-soo-lah lahnz-man), Inari Sami reindeer herder
Life was fond of us. The sun in heaven’s space and the earth sought in its arms gifts. The reindeer roamed, the salmon climbed.”
Nils-Aslak Valkeapää (neels-ah-slock fahl-kay-ah-pah), Sami poet