Terricide—Killing of the Earth. The murder of tangible ecosystems and peoples who inhabit it. A word coined by a group of Indigenous women from the 36 nations inhabiting Argentina.
"We need a global agenda of resistance."
At the end of 2019, Movimiento de Mujeres Indígenas por el Buen Vivir (Movement of Indigenous Women for the Good Life) started the Campamento Climático 2020, which happened in February 2020, in order to develop a comprehensive agenda to fight terricide, the killing of the Earth. They called to consider terricide a crime against humanity, recover the cosmology of Indo-America, protect rivers, water systems, and forestry. Colonialism and its legacies through extractive and exploitative capitalism continues their subjugation.
While the term terricidio was created in 2019, the worldviews of Indigenous people have encapsulated it for centuries.
By Michelangelo Temporin
"From March to August 2019 I spent six months in Temuco, capital of the Araucanía region, southern Chile: the idea of this work stems directly from my personal experience of life and study there. During my permanence in Chile I had the opportunity to be hosted 10 days by Hilda Llanquinao Trabol, an 80 years old Mapuche woman, one of the first indigenous woman to be University professor in Chile. When I was with her, I made an interview in which Hilda deals with the relationship between Mapuche and Western cosmovision, underlying how the relationship between people and nature established by the Western system of thought is the “mirror” of the environmental destruction that we are currently facing. Finally, I made a short-film, in which I merged natural shots, filmed personally in the Chilean Mapuche territory, with Hilda’s interview."
Connection to
Sustainable Development Goals
Goal 10
Reduced Inequalities
Indigenous people are more likely to be impoverished and are more threatened by human rights violations.
Goal 13
Climate Action
Indigenous people have necessary insights to help facilitate urgent action.
Goal 14
Life Below Water
The knowledge of Indigenous groups is not only beneficial, but also essential for conservation practices and sustainability strategies.
Goal 15
Life on Land
Protecting and restoring terrestrial ecosystems are key tenets of Indigenous worldviews.
Goal 16
Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
In order to have just systems, there must be inclusion and promotion of Indigenous voices.
Goal 17
Partnerships
Partnerships must be balanced as in the past, Indigenous people were only parts of the process, rather than key actors.