Who & Where We Fund / Americas
Previous Grantees
Belize
The Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management (SATIIM) works with Maya and Garifuna communities surrounding the Sarstoon Temash National Park (STNP). These Indigenous communities co-manage the Park with the government of Belize. When these proactive co-management agreements were made with the Forestry Department, 75 community residents were trained in research skills and participated in the teams lead by national and international experts to document for the first time the biodiversity, hydrology, geology and soils and socioeconomic context of the park. Community residents, particularly the elders, also participated actively in two studies which documented Indigenous traditional knowledge about the Park and its natural resources. Community participation in park management has also lead to the creation of a ground breaking management plan for the STNP, hailed by government as the most comprehensive in Belize, which includes environmental education and development of livelihood alternatives as two key strategies to relieve some of the pressure on the natural resources in and around the STNP. The Keepers of the Earth Fund grant will help provide the resources to teach community members how to help manage the park. The education program includes both informal and formal education strategies that allow for western and traditional ecological knowledge cross fertilization to occur. This deliberate focus has strengthened the integration of Indigenous knowledge in park management and reinforces the Indigenous cosmovision and relationship to natural resources. SATIIM is fostering a second generation of community leaders and park managers with a strong knowledge base and bridging the gaps between traditional and western knowledge among the Indigenous communities in order to enhance their participation in the management of their land.
Guatemala
Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG) is restoring the traditional knowledge of Indigenous Stewardship that is being lost from local Indigenous communities. There are 23 Indigenous groups, predominantly Mayan, living in Guatemala representing 6 million individuals or 60% of the population. With Keepers of the Earth funds, UVG is collecting and disseminating traditional Indigenous knowledge and Stewardship practices in conjunction with scientific research related to sustainable rural development needs to Indigenous communities in the Guatemalan highlands where UVG is located. UVG is developing an intercultural learning tool that reflects best practices in different areas of sustainable rural development including community participation, water and sanitation, health and hygiene, food, agriculture and forestry, and conservation and ecological sustainability, among others. The information being collected will be presented visually to community members of four different linguistic groups in the form of “how-to” cards illustrating best practices to restore Indigenous knowledge and Stewardship practices to communities. Through their grant activities, UVG is making a valuable contribution to Guatemala and its Indigenous population by truly demonstrating the value of Indigenous Stewardship in a model that can be replicated elsewhere.
Colombia
The Cofán live along the border of Colombia and Ecuador and, while they currently reside in neighboring countries, their territory once was united prior to the arbitrary demarcation of countries following colonization. Despite their common history and shared border, the Cofán communities in Colombia and Ecuador have not yet made transnational ties. At First Peoples’ suggestion, both organizations have demonstrated a desire to open lines of communication and work jointly on projects to strengthen the Cofán community throughout the region. First Peoples will help facilitate these conversations as they gain momentum.
In Colombia, the Indigenous Fundación Zio A’I is constructing a Cofán Community Ceremonial House. Upon completion, the House will serve as a community center for the Cofán people and help the Foundation achieve its mission of strengthening community spiritual knowledge, the defending mother earth to ensure her survival, and strengthening elders’ ancestral knowledge, especially of traditional medicine. With the Keepers of the Earth Fund grant, the community will be able to come together at the Ceremonial House to discuss the protection of their communities, territories, natural resources, education systems, traditional medicine sources, the recuperation of Indigenous production methods, and the condition and quality of life of the Cofán people. In addition to the construction of the Ceremonial House, a garden is being planted and will be maintained using traditional practices for growth and cultivation. Keepers of the Earth funding enables the Cofán community to grasp their roots while moving forward into the future with valuable sustainable practices that are imperative for the survival of their community and land.
Ecuador
Across the border, a second Cofán organization, Federación Indígena de la Nacionalidad Cofán del Ecuador (FEINCE), is repatriating information that has been extracted from Cofán communities in Ecuador by NGOs, the government, universities, corporations, and others. The Cofán are primarily recovering maps of their territory and assets. Such maps are found in offices from Ecuador’s capital city Quito to Washington, DC, but are not housed by Cofán communities. Through spending time in Quito, the Cofán are readily acquiring their territory maps along with other maps of protected areas, forest cover, and even proposed land management plans. Once all maps have been compiled, FEINCE will provide copies of the most useful documents to ten Cofán communities. Beyond dissemination of information, FEINCE is developing workshops to introduce community members to the maps and reports to strengthen their understanding of assets. Because assets are the building block of wealth and Indigenous communities are rich in a number of assets from land and resources to knowledge, this innovative project will lead the Cofán to be better informed about their assets and how assets are used and valued by the community and outsiders. Armed with this knowledge, the Cofán communities will be able to make informed decisions about how to utilize their assets in the most effective and efficient manner within their communities and when engaging with outside interests from corporations to conservationists.
A second Indigenous group in Ecuador, the Awá, is strengthening the organizational and institutional capacity of their people through the promotion of sustainable development and the recovery of the values and identity of their culture. With Keepers of the Earth funding, the Federación de Centros Awá del Ecuador (FCAE), is implementing a Natural Resources Program to establish systems for sustainable harvest of common game species, create regulations for the use of fauna and monitor this use through a database, and launch a plan to control poaching and regulate game assets. As this system is further developed, the Awá will be documenting how traditional and introduced practices affect their resources. With better control of their resources, the Awá, like the Cofán, will be able to manage their own assets more efficiently within their community and when engaging with outsiders. Creating a database to track resource use is an avant-garde initiative that has only now been possible with First Peoples’ funding support.
Peru
The final American-based organization using Keepers of the Earth funds is the Creative Visions Foundation. Through this Foundation’s work, Peru’s largest Indigenous group, the Asháninka, who reside in the Amazon region along the border of Brazil, are documenting their homelands and culture through photography. With this information, the Asháninka are establishing a growing voice throughout Peru and in an international setting. By recording their valuable culture, the Asháninka are able to engage in community and political discussions at a local level, promote Indigenous land-management practices through documented successes, and educate the general public about their culture. This project is tantamount to protecting the remaining members of the Asháninka tribe as they resettle their homelands after being displaced during the violent conflicts during the end of the 20th century that mark Peru’s history. The Asháninka have worked extensively to map their land in Otishi National Park and hold communal rights to use the land. Because the Asháninka are largely isolated and lack access to major modes of communication with the world beyond their communities, this funding is vitally important to their cultural survival and the continued defense of their homelands.
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