In 2019, directors Clement and Sophie Guerra produced an award-winning documentary entitled, The Condor and the Eagle. The film documents the stories of four well-known Indigenous environmental spokespeople who are at the forefront of a perspective shift in the identity of their people, from forgotten voices to powerful and influential leaders. They have struggled with feelings of isolation their entire lives and are now discovering the power of their shared voices to bring change to the entire world. When revered Native elder Casey Camp-Horinek traveled to New York in 2014 to lead the People's Climate March, she was met with overwhelming support from the people of her sister nations in North and South America. With the continuous expansion of pipeline projects throughout the Americas, these Indigenous women and men represent the last remaining landholders who refuse to sacrifice their territories to transnational oil companies.
Their unification in New York first and later in Paris are among many similar and burgeoning initiatives, mostly led by Indigenous women, that have inspired people around the world to rise for the protection of the earth and give life to the climate justice movement. Filmed in the verdant jungles of the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon, First Nations communities in Canada and Native tribes in Oklahoma, viewers are able to capture the extraordinary beauty in the places, faces and cultures of Indigenous people. The Indigenous heartfelt pursuit for self-discovery, self- reclamation, and a way of life, is chronicled in the film as they build alliances around the world. The film also sheds light on the role of Indigenous peoples on the frontlines of struggles to defend the earth from extractivism and environmental devastation.
Today, we bring you audio from a recent panel discussion and Q&A about The Condor and the Eagle hosted by the Indigenous Environmental Network. The Indigenous Environmental Network is a network of indigenous, grassroots environmental justice activists, primarily based in the United States. During todays program, you will hear presentations delivered by Casey Camp-Horinek and Tom Goldtooth. Casey Camp-Horinek is one of the protagonists of the film, The Condor and the Eagle. She is the hereditary drum keeper of the womens scout dance society of the Ponca Nation of Oklahoma. Tom Goldtooth is the executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network and has been awarded with recognition of his achievements throughout the past 40 years as an activist for social change and indigenous-based just transition within the Indigenous and environmental and climate justice movements. The discussion was moderated by Liana Lopez.
