Oaxaca.-On November 23, 24 and 25 of this year, the X Meeting of Community Defenders was held at the facilities of the Ayuuk Intercultural Higher Institute (ISIA) in the community of Jaltepec de Candayoc, San Juan Cotzocón, Oaxaca. The activity was convened by the Network of Community Defenders of the Peoples of Oaxaca (REDECOM), Services for an Alternative Education, EDUCA, AC and the Ayuuk Intercultural Higher Institute (ISIA).
The main objective of this tenth meeting was to generate dialogue and exchange on alternatives and community knowledge practiced by organizations, communities and indigenous peoples and peasants in their daily lives.
With the above, we sought to reflect on possible solutions based on hope and community construction in the face of the problems unleashed from the constant threats to their territories by transnational companies and extractive projects, which generate serious violations of the human rights of indigenous peoples and communities, Afro-descendants and peasants.
The three-day journey began with a ceremony in which members of the various regions placed their intentions at the center of an altar built with flowers, seeds, medicinal herbs, water, among other products. During the act, the defenders deprived of liberty or life for defending their territory were brought to mind, mainly the recent cases of the murders of the defenders of Paso de la Reyna.
Likewise, while they lit candles that represented the cardinal points, the attendees asked for the meeting to generate hope, healing and exchange of knowledge and knowledge among the people of the different towns and communities attending.
Among the activities planned for this tenth meeting was the “Panel on alternatives and community knowledge” in which the student of the seventh semester of the Degree in Administration and Community Development of the ISIA, Monserrath Orozco Santiago, participated, who spoke of alternatives to conventional economy from the practice of the “Eco tianguis solidarity”, which was born in the Institute from the daily exchange of products that the students bring from their regions. In addition, he stressed the social, historical and defense importance that markets represent in communities.
For her part, Reyna Castellanos García, a member of the Ecosta Yutu Cuii organization, shared about the investigation of the “Mucuna bean”, an endemic product of the region that decades ago ceased to be cultivated due to the entry of other products, but which contains various properties. healing and nutritional.
Likewise, Felipe Neri Vargas Martínez, community defender and healer of his community, shared about his activity of making natural products based on herbs and traditional medicine. The defender highlighted the importance of the right to health and how traditional healing practices are also an important part of the defense of the territory.
To close the first panel, Ángela Castro Velásquez, a member of the Union of Indigenous Communities of the Municipality of Guichicovi, who works to heal the body and spirit through massages, highlighted the importance of knowing how to listen to the pain of the spirit “because many times it suffers more than the body and we don’t know how to listen to it”. She also shared some healing recipes based on local medicinal plants and meditation.
Within the work spaces for the Meeting, the attendees shared about the “Strategies for the defense of our rights and territory”, concluding that community practices have historically been a way of defending peoples against colonizing threats. , extractivists and dispossession. Community Assemblies and their constant strengthening, Tequio, language, textiles, traditional medicine, self-consumption, barter, among many other practices that are carried out by the community, are some of the ways that the attendees highlighted. as strategies to defend the territory.
The panel “Spirituality, music and textiles are defense of the territory” included the participation of the student of the 5th semester of the Bachelor’s Degree in Communication for Social Development, Amalia Toribio Castro; the student from Santa Ana Yareni, Gabriel Ruíz Ramírez; former students Carmela Pérez Martínez and Lucero Ortigoza Vargas; and the native defender of San Mateo del Mar, Lesvia Esesarte Baloes, who approached the defense from a playful perspective, of rescue and revitalization of various community artistic practices.
The participation of Amalia and Gabriel, young Mixe (San Juan Cotzocón) and Zapotec (Santa Ana Yareni) youth, respectively, revolved around the defense of life from the backstrap loom of their towns. Amalia, an artisan since she was six years old, emphasizes that the history of her town, nature, worldview and the identity of those who preceded her are highlighted in the making of the garments, since all this goes through the practice of the waist loom. For his part, Gabriel shared his experience as an apprentice artisan and researcher of a practice that has been lost in his community and that, until before his interest, no man weaved on a backstrap loom.
On the other hand, the graduates of ISIA, Carmela Pérez Martínez and Lucero Ortigoza Vargas, shared the formation of a cultural center in Jaltepec de Candayoc in which the children’s and youth band of the community began, an artistic expression of great importance for the town. mixe.
To close the panel, Lesvia Esesarte Baloes commented on her feelings from the experience of defending the territory from spirituality. She highlighted the importance of keeping in mind the spirit of those who preceded us, since it is a symbol of wisdom. Likewise, she shared an exercise so that from anywhere you can heal “in front of the sea”.
Finally, in the evening of the second day of work, a socio-cultural program was carried out, where the attendees demonstrated with music, dance, poetry, textiles, etc., expressions of resistance for their rights and their territories.
On the last day of the day, a ritual was carried out in ISIA’s “La Ceiba”, a sacred place where tribute is offered to Mother Earth and the natural elements to bring any collective activity to a good start or to a good end. On this occasion, two guides led the attendees during a gratitude ceremony in which the activities of the X Meeting of Community Defenders and Defenders were present, as well as the closing of the activities for the 16th anniversary of ISIA.
It should be noted that ISIA, the venue for the meeting, was created since its formation in 2006 with the aim of making quality higher education and humanistic training accessible to people from indigenous communities with an intercultural approach. The current academic offer of the institute are the degrees in “Intercultural Education”, “Communication for Social Development” and “Administration and Sustainable Development”.
To close the meeting, the workshop “Spirituality and Self-care, healing from the heart” was given, given by Susana Montes Cruz, who is a defender of Human Rights of Zapotec roots, who has worked for the defense of life in Oaxaca and Chiapas in different Civil society organizations. Susana shared different exercises for the healing and care of the body and spirit of the defenders. The defender herself highlighted the importance of the union and unity of our body with the natural elements.
The meeting included the participation of human rights defenders from the Isthmus, Coast, Central Valleys and Sierra Norte regions, as well as the generational exchange of people with extensive experience in the defense of life and the active participation of youth.
From these reflections the following poem emerged, which was read by the young defenders Jazmín and Guadalupe during the event, which compiles part of the Encounter process, as well as the knowledge that the attendees have collectively built in processes such as the School of Defenders and Community Defenders, the Meeting of Community Defenders and the ISIA.
“We are territory”
The territory starts from our body, where our spirit that awakens
and is reunited with our other self.
With our animality.
From our closest nucleus, the family.
From our way of making community, in the assembly, the tequio, the Guelaguetza, the river festival and the stewardship.
From the memories that grandparents evoke.
From the healing of the body and spirit.
Through our plants, words, cuddles, food and drinks.
From the rituals to thank, ask and offer to mother earth and our gods.
From our markets, tianguis and days of squares.
From the artisans who weave with their soul and capture their worldviews in their works.
From the people who proudly wear their huipil and the blanket pants, because the clothing reflects the history of the people and the resistance of the peoples.
From those who treasure culture through music, where music is the expression of spirit and history.
From those who dance with the joy of their hearts, the sones, jarabes and chilenas.
From the sea, the river and the mountain.
From the ways to reunite with the spirit.
From the you and me that we resist.
From Comitancillo to Paso de la Reyna!
From Cotzocón to Santiago Lalopa!
From San Mateo del Mar to Santa Ana Yareni!
From Jaltepec de Candayoc to the Central Valleys!
From Mogoñé to San Juan Cacahuatepec!
And the many others that we found scattered.
Oaxaca, Mexico, November 30, 2022.
Network of Community Defenders of the Peoples of Oaxaca (REDECOM).
Services for an Alternative Education, EDUCA, AC