ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Tashka and Laura Yawanawá - Leaders of the Yawanawá
Chief Tashka Yawanawá and Laura Yawanawá represent the critical perspective often missed in the discussions about the future of indigenous people in Brazil: that of the indigenous people themselves.

Why you should listen

For Tashka and Laura Yawanawá, leaders of the Yawanawá people living in the Acre region of Brazil, engagement with the world begins with his people’s right to self-determination and self-worth.

The son of a former leader of the Yawanawá, as a boy Tashka witnessed the near annihilation of his culture by the New Tribes Mission and by the pressure of economic interests. He studied in the United States and visited other indigenous communities. With other tribal leaders in the Amazon, he is working to restore dignity, identity and a sustainable economic future to indigenous populations, founded on their own values, culture and definition of prosperity.

More profile about the speaker
Tashka and Laura Yawanawá | Speaker | TED.com
We the Future

Tashka and Laura Yawanawá: The Amazon belongs to humanity -- let's protect it together

Tashka and Laura Yawanawá: Amazòn nan se pou tout limanite -- ann pwoteje l ansanm

Filmed:
139,417 views

Tashka ak Laura Yawanawá ap dirije pèp Yawanawá ki nan eta Acre, Brezil -- yon tribi ki ap jere plis pase 500,000 kawo tè nan forè Amazoni an. Kòm sa te choke lemond antye lè yo wè forè a kap boule, Tashka ak Laura mande nou pou nou fè moman sa vin yon opòtinite pou sipòte pèp endijèn yo ki gen eksperyans, konesans ak bonjan zouti pou pwoteje forè a.
- Leaders of the Yawanawá
Chief Tashka Yawanawá and Laura Yawanawá represent the critical perspective often missed in the discussions about the future of indigenous people in Brazil: that of the indigenous people themselves. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
TashkaTashka YawanawYawanawá (SharpFo exhalerann kont)
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Tashka Yawanawá (Soufle)
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(SharpFo exhalerann kont)
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(Soufle)
00:18
(SharpFo exhalerann kont)
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(Soufle)
00:20
(SharpFo exhalerann kont)
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(Soufle)
00:23
(SingingChante)
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(Chante)
01:07
(SingingChante endsfini)
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(Chante a fini)
01:11
(SharpFo exhalerann kont)
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(Soufle)
01:19
I'm TashkaTashka YawanawYawanawá.
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Mwen se Tashka Yawanawá.
01:22
I'm here with my wifemadanm.
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Mwen isit la avèk madanm mwen.
01:24
I come from the YawanawYawanawá communitykominote a,
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Mwen sòti nan kominote Yawanawá ,
01:30
whichki is locatedki chita in the stateleta of AcreAcre
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ki nan Eta ki rele Acre
01:32
in the BrazilianBwezilyen AmazonAmazon.
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nan pati Lamazòn ki Brezil la
01:35
Takes some daysjou to arriverive here.
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Nou pran kèk jou pou nou rive isit la,
01:38
I just did the songchante
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mwen fè mizik la
01:41
to reconnectrekonekte us
to the spiritLespri Bondye of the rainforestforè.
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pou n ka rekonekte nou ak lespri forè a.
01:45
From immemorialimemoryal time,
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Depi yon tan ke n pa menm ka sonje,
01:47
my people liveviv in the YawanawYawanawá territoryteritwa.
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pèp mwen an ap viv sou teritwa Yawanawá.
01:51
We see this holisticholistic way
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Nou wè tout kòman
01:56
of how naturenati is.
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lanati ye.
01:58
NatureNati, to us, belongsfè pati
to the wholetout antye of humanitylimanite.
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Pou nou, lanati se pou tout limanite.
02:05
And we YawanawYawanawá see
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Nou menm Yawanawá nou wè
02:08
the environmentanviwònman, the forestforè, as alivevivan.
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lanviwònman ak forè a kom bagay ki vivan.
02:11
But everything is always a challengedefi.
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Men tout bagay toujou yon defi.
02:15
MostlySitou now, because I think
manyanpil of you know
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Pi plis kounya, paske mwen panse
anpil nan nou konnen
02:19
that the AmazonAmazon now is on firedife.
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Amazòn nan ap pran dife.
02:23
That affectsafekte all of us.
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Sa bay tout moun pwoblèm.
02:27
DestroyingDetwi the AmazonAmazon does not affectafekte
just the indigenousendijèn people,
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Amazòn nan kap detwi a pa afekte
sèlman pèp endijèn nan,
02:31
because we are all connectedkonekte.
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paske nou tout konekte.
02:34
WhateverTou sa we do in my communitykominote a,
if I burnboule everything,
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Nenpòt sa nou fè nan kominote'm nan,
si mwen boule tout bagay,
02:38
it's going to affectafekte it here,
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l'ap afekte isit la,
02:39
when the snownèj comesvini here at ChristmasNwel.
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lè lanèj tonbe lè epòk fèt Nwèl,
02:41
If you pollutepolye here,
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Si ou polye isit la,
02:43
it's going to affectafekte it when the rainlapli
comesvini to my countrypeyi.
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li pral afekte lapli ki pral
tonbe nan peyi mwen an.
02:48
I used to say we all belongfè pati
to the globalmondyal villagevilaj la.
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Mwen te konn di nou tout fè
pati vilaj global la.
02:53
I used to say, AmazonAmazon belongsfè pati to humanitylimanite,
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Mwen te konn di Lamazòn nan
se pou tout limanite,
02:57
and alsotou that humanitylimanite needsbezwen to take careswen
as the indigenousendijèn do in the worldmond.
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e limanite dwe pwoteje l
menm jan endijèn yo ap fè l nan lemonn.
03:04
And for this reasonrezon,
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Pou rezon sa a,
03:08
todayjodi a is a time to wakereveye, uniteini us.
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jodia se lè pou nou leve, ini nou.
03:13
We YawanawYawanawá are doing our partpati.
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Nou menm Yawanawá nou fè sa'n dwe fè.
03:16
We take careswen of MotherManman EarthLate.
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Nou pran swen Manman nou Latè.
03:20
And now, I will give to my wifemadanm.
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Kounya, madanm mwen pral pale.
03:23
LauraLaura YawanawYawanawá: We are here
with our hearts cryingrele.
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Laura Yawanawá: nou isit la avèk kè nou
kap rache.
03:28
I am smilingsouri here, but my heart is cryingrele,
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m ap souri sevre men kè mwen ap rache,
03:31
because a lot of our forestsforè
are beingyo te destroyeddetwi.
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paske anpil nan forè nou yo ap detwi.
03:36
And I just want to give you a messagemesaj.
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Epi mwen jis vle ban nou yon mesaj.
03:40
This crisiskriz is givingbay
humanitylimanite two optionsopsyon.
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Kriz sa a bay limanite 2 opsyon.
03:46
One optionopsyon is you help to endfen,
to destroydetwi and exterminateekstemine
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youn se pou nou patisipe
nan destwi ak kraze
03:52
all our forestsforè and all
our cultureskilti that go with it.
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tout forè nou yo
ansanm ak lakilti nou.
03:57
Or, we transformtransfòme this crisiskriz
into an opportunityopòtinite
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Oubyen, nou kapab fè kriz la
tounen yon opotinite
04:03
to empowerpèmèt indigenousendijèn people,
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pou nou ranfòse pèp endijèn yo,
04:05
to supportsipò indigenousendijèn people
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pou nou sipòte pèp endijèn yo
04:08
and to savesove the rainforestforè
and theiryo cultureskilti.
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epi pou nou sove forè a avèk lakilti l yo.
04:12
And how can you do that?
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Men, kijan nou kapab fè sa?
04:14
We have, the YawanawYawanawá,
we createdkreye a life planplan,
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Nou menm Yawanawá yo, nou kreye
yon plan pou lavi,
04:20
whichki is our strategicestratejik planningplanifikasyon
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ki se plan stratejik nou
04:23
that tellsdi us the stepsetap
of how we want to securesekirite our territoryteritwa.
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ki di nou sa pou nou fè pou nou
sekirize teritwa nou an.
04:29
We take careswen of about
200,000 hectaresekta of rainforestforè.
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Nou gen prèske 200,000 ekta forè
sou kont nou.
04:33
But now it's underanba threatmenas.
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Men kounya li menase.
04:35
So this life planplan showsmontre the stepsetap
for us to securesekirite our landpeyi,
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Ebyen plan lavi sa a montre nou
koman pou nou pwoteje tè nou an,
04:41
our biodiversitydivesite biyolojik,
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tout kalite bèt ak plant nou yo,
04:43
our culturekilti, our educationedikasyon.
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kilti nou, edikasyon nou.
04:46
I inviteenvite you all,
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Mwen envite nou tout,
04:49
I inviteenvite all companieskonpayi yo,
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Mwen envite tout konpayi yo,
04:51
I inviteenvite all governmentsgouvènman yo,
all civilsivil societysosyete a,
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mwen envite tout gouvènman
ak sosyete sivil yo,
04:55
to listen to indigenousendijèn peoplespèp,
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pou yo koute pèp endijèn yo,
04:57
to go back to our rootsrasin.
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pou nou retounen nan rasin nou.
05:00
We have been here
for manyanpil, manyanpil ... for centuriessyèk.
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Nou la depi anpil anpil... syèk.
05:05
And we have been tryingap eseye
to screamrèl to the worldmond
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E nou ap eseye lontan fè lemonn konprann
05:08
that we need to protectpwoteje
our territoryteritwa, our naturenati.
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nou bezwen pwoteje teritwa nou, lanati a.
05:11
And you never listen to us.
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Men yo pa janm koute nou.
05:13
Never.
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Jamè.
05:14
I guessdevine this crisiskriz is teachinganseye humanitylimanite
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Mwen rete kwè kriz sa aprann limanite
05:18
that now you need to listen to us
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ke kounya yo dwe koute nou
05:20
and to supportsipò indigenousendijèn
peoplespèp directlydirèkteman,
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epi sipòte pèp endijèn nan dirèkteman,
05:23
to supportsipò theiryo initiativesinisyativ directlydirèkteman.
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sipòte inisyativ yo dirèkteman.
05:26
So that's the messagemesaj
that I would love to leavekite to you.
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Kidonk, se mesaj sa mwen ap kite pou nou.
05:32
That indigenousendijèn people have the answerRepons,
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Pèp endijèn nan gen repons lan,
05:34
and if you want to savesove the AmazonAmazon,
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e si nou vle sove Amazòn nan,
05:36
we have to take actionaksyon now.
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nou dwe aji kounya.
05:41
TYTy: (SharpFo exhalerann kont)
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TY: (Soufle)
05:46
(ApplauseAplodisman)
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(Aplodisman)
Translated by Jeffnie Jean Louis
Reviewed by Aram Pierre

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Tashka and Laura Yawanawá - Leaders of the Yawanawá
Chief Tashka Yawanawá and Laura Yawanawá represent the critical perspective often missed in the discussions about the future of indigenous people in Brazil: that of the indigenous people themselves.

Why you should listen

For Tashka and Laura Yawanawá, leaders of the Yawanawá people living in the Acre region of Brazil, engagement with the world begins with his people’s right to self-determination and self-worth.

The son of a former leader of the Yawanawá, as a boy Tashka witnessed the near annihilation of his culture by the New Tribes Mission and by the pressure of economic interests. He studied in the United States and visited other indigenous communities. With other tribal leaders in the Amazon, he is working to restore dignity, identity and a sustainable economic future to indigenous populations, founded on their own values, culture and definition of prosperity.

More profile about the speaker
Tashka and Laura Yawanawá | Speaker | TED.com