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2nd Continental Indigenous Summit of the Americas
Radio International Feminista/FIRE
Quito, Ecuador -- Women comprised nearly half of those who attended the Second Continental Indigenous Summit of the Americas, which ended on Sunday, July 25, 2004. But despite their widespread and active participation, it provided little guarantee that the issue of gender was visible or that a gender perspective was included in many of the discussions of the event. Although gender was not designated as one of the central themes of the Summit, it was considered a transversal issue that cut across all others. But as a transversal theme, gender proved to be more of a transparent or even an invisible issue. The Summit included 633 participants from 64 indigenous communities and nations, of whom 339 were women. These included including Kakchikel from Guatemala, Lenca of Honduras, Satere Mowe and Patewa of Brasil, Yaki from the United States, Aymara and Quechua of Perú, Wayuu from Colombia, Puruha, Kichwala and Salasaka from Ecuador, and many others. At the Summit, one of the 10 Working Groups focused on “Gender and the Participation of Indigenous Women,” but gender was not reflected in the analysis of the other groups, nor was gender or women mentioned in the Final Declaration. The final resolution of the Working Group on Gender and Indigenous Women, listed several conclusions and recommendations including: The organizations of the indigenous communities have not incorporated the effective and active participation of indigenous women in their organizational processes, policies or social contexts. The indigenous communities need to include women in spaces of hierarchy, training and quota laws. The feminist movement is called upon to take into account a cultural and ethnic perspective, so that struggles of indigenous women are included in its programs. The final resolution of the Gender Working Group was based on an analysis that focused in particular on the participation of indigenous women in defense of their land and territories, and other common struggles of the indigenous peoples. For example, Cristina Gualinga, coordinator of the Indigenous Women of the Amazon, noted the important efforts by women in Sarayaco, Ecuador, in the indigenous people's struggle and resistance to hold onto their land which was being threatened by oil exploration. The preliminary resolution of the Gender Working Group was presented at the plenary, and generated considerable debate. One participant declared, for example, that “gender is a foreign concept, which erodes the indigenous cosmovision, and disrupts the harmony or complementarity between women and men, called Chachawarmi.” Other participants reacted strongly to these ideas. Blanca Chancoso, an indigenous woman leader from Ecuador said, “I believe that the man and the woman are complementary, but not that the woman is complementary to the man.” She also declared, “At this time in the struggle, as women we have to listen to our own voices, and to recognize our own ideas as they contribute to the discussion…” Other points made in the debate focused on hidden problems in the indigenous communities, such as domestic violence or abandonment of children by their parents, which often have a greater impact on women, but are rarely talked about openly. According to some participants, the reason for this silence is that many of these problems are regarded as private, and so should remain in the home, or within the family. Carmen Blanco, a Quechua woman from Peru, noted that women are often accused of dividing social or political movements when they bring up issues of gender or class. Referring to the indigenous movement, she said that “each time that we want to touch on the theme of women or mention the word ’feminism’, both men and some women sacan a la luz (turn out the light), saying that it is better that we not talk about these issues…” According to a participant from Venezuela, the feminist movement has brought many of these issues forward for discussion, including problems of maternal mortality, forced sterilization, death from unsafe abortions, trafficking of women, immigration, etc., all of which have a particular impact on indigenous women. He called for a recognition of the contributions of feminism in the struggles of indigenous women. A summit delegate from Colombia argued that many of these problems would never be resolved if they were not analyzed from a gender perspective, and did not include women as equal participants in developing solutions. She noted for example, that a connection needs to be made between the problem of domestic violence, and social and political violence outside the home in society. Among the suggestions made by participants for the next indigenous summit, a woman from Guatemala proposed that next time 50 percent of the organizing committee and also the Working Groups be comprised of women, and 50% of men, as a way of helping to ensure inclusion of a gender perspective in the discussion of issues. Another recommendation was to hold a forum for women two days before the general summit, to enable women to develop their own proposals to be included in the general event.
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