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The Flame of Struggle
by Edgar Kanayko Xakriaba, Brazil Xakriaba people protesting against setbacks committed by the government. Edgar Kanayko Xakriaba says: “As they say in the village: ‘[Community] is eating from the same pot’. In other words, what constitutes us as a community is a set of social and cultural relationships where we are and become relatives. In this sense, we are indigenous precisely because we are part of a community, of a people where the common sense of struggle and resistance makes us one and at the same time diverse.”
Photograph: Edgar Kanayko Xakriba/If Not Us Then Who/Wildsceen
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Sweet Kiss, Salt Water
by Irati Dojura, Embera Chami, Columbia Irati Dojura says: “The little older sister kisses with emotion her younger sister, who is only a few months old. She is the one who bathes her in the river every day, she is the one who wipes her sweet tears in the salty water, making the water sweet as well. The genuine instant, evidence of love, sisterhood, all dissolved in the clean and transparent water that innocence brings with it from childhood.” The two sisters are from the village of Chidima, Choco, and belong to the Embera Eyabida ethnic group.
Photograph: Irati Dojura/If Not Us Then Who/Wildsceen
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Munduruku Warriors
by Priscila Tapajowara, Tapajo people, Amazon, Brazil Munduruku women and men dance and sing in a ritual at the Kato village in the Amazon region. Priscila Tapajowara (also known as Adrielle Priscila da Silva Tavares) was the first indigenous woman to graduate from the Paulus Faculty of Technology and Communication, having studied audiovisual production. Since then, she has worked as a film director, a documentary photographer since 2013 and a communicator at Midia India.
Photograph: Priscila Tapajowara/If Not Us Then Who/Wildsceen
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Born into Resistance
by Elizabeth Swanson Andi, Napu Kichwa, Ecuadorian Amazon Elizabeth Swanson Andi says: “Children of the Amazon – I don’t know what your future holds, I never could have guessed mine. I don’t know if you’ll have all the stars at your reach or if the sky will be filled with smog. I don’t know if you’ll be able to drink from the nearby creek, swim in the river, or if it will be contaminated by oil spills. I don’t know if you’ll be able to hear the jungle sing when night falls as it always has. I hope it never goes silent … That is my wish for you.”
Photograph: Elizabeth Swanson Andi/If Not Us Then Who/Wildsceen
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The Struggle for Territory Is Also a Struggle for Water
by Edgar Kanayko Xakriaba, Xakriaba people, Brazil Xakriaba people bathe in the waters of the Sao Francisco River, a river that is part of their ancestral territory and currently part of a reclaimed area.
Photograph: Edgar Kanayko Xariaba/If Not Us Then Who/Wildsceen
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Picking Lice is a Love Language
by Elizabeth Swanson Andi, Napu Kichwa, Ecuadorian Amazon Elizabeth Swanson Andi says: “It had been a few months since Nemi and I had seen each other. As I arrived at her community on the Nushino River by canoe, I caught her peeking behind the base of a tree. As soon as I sat down, she ran up to me and began searching through my hair … I already knew this was reciprocity, this was love. Oftentimes people associate lice with being ‘dirty’ … but I know it’s simply a reflection of our proximity and intimacy with the earth and with each other.”
Photograph: Elizabeth Swanson Andi/If Not Us Then Who/Wildsceen
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Qateeya: Our Mother Water
by Morena Perez Joachin and Pablo Franceschi, Meztiza Guatemala and Ladino, Guatemala This is an ethnographic account of the oral tradition and beliefs of Mayan mythology around Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. It is a reflection on spirituality and environmental justice in a Mayan community of the Tzutijil ethnic group. Morena Perez Joachin is an independent photojournalist and documentary filmmaker working on issues related to indigenous movements, environment and migration. On the meaning of community, the artists say: “Between storms and springs a community blossoms.”
Photograph: Morena Perez Joachin and Pablo Franceschi/If Not Us Then Who/Wildsceen
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Volunteer Brigade
by Genilson Guajajara, Guajajara people, Brazil Genilson Guajajara is a photographer and communicator, trained in indigenous cinema by VNA (Videos in the Villages). He says: “I use photography to show the daily life of my village and the struggle of my people to ensure the welfare of our territory … Our territory is sacred to us and the … photography helps people to be closer to our reality, making them understand our way of life and having more respect for the environment.”
Photograph: Genilson Guajajara/If Not Us Then Who/Wildsceen
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February 2010. Mendalam River, West Kalimantan
by Michael Eko, Javanese Indonesian, Indonesia A farmer manually separates rice from its husk by using his feet. The Dayak Kayan indigenous people never use machines to harvest crops as they believe rice has souls and spirits. It is believed that violating this taboo could lead to a crop failure in the next planting season. Michael Eko says: “I am a documentary photographer … Since 2010, I follow indigenous and frontline communities in the Asian region adapting to current socioeconomic, cultural and climate change.”
Photograph: Michael Eko/If Not Us Then Who/Wildsceen
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Meeting with the Seyarukwingumu Community of the Arhuaco Indigenous People
by Jesus Reinel Torres Celedon, Arhuaco people, Columbia This photo was taken in a Kankurwa, a place where the Arhuacos meet to make decisions. Jesus Reinel Torres Celedon is an Arhuaco indigenous person from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, currently working as a professional guide for a forest regeneration project in the Sierra Nevada, and has been a photography enthusiast for the last year.
Photograph: Jesus Reinel Torres Celedon/If Not Us Then Who/Wildsceen
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February 2010. Flowers in Kapuas River, West Kalimantan
by Michael Eko, Javanese Indonesian, Indonesia Michael Eko says: “My work’s focus is to show how the history of colonisation with relation to contemporary globalisation and the climate crisis has brought a huge impact to local communities and their natural world … Community is a safe haven where we feel safe and loved. It has its collective wisdom, language and instruments that could protect and encourage us to be a person with virtue.”
Photograph: Michael Eko/If Not Us Then Who/Wildsceen
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Wapte Wawi
by Edgar Kanayko Xakriaba, Xakriaba people, Brazil Xakriaba body painting. Edgar Kanayko Xakriaba belongs to the indigenous Xakriaba people of Minas Gerais. He is a master’s student in anthropology at the Federal University of Minas Gerais and a freelancer in the area of ethnophotography, which he describes as “a means of recording aspects of culture – the life of a people”. He says: “Through the lens, photography becomes a new ‘tool’ for struggle, allowing the ‘other’ to see with another look what an indigenous people is.”
Photograph: Edgar Kanayko Xakriaba/If Not Us Then Who/Wildsceen
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