WECAN at the 25th UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII)

From April 20-23, WECAN attended the 25th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) in solidarity with Indigenous partners and colleagues. In New York City, WECAN participated in strategy sessions, advocacy work events and meetings at the UNPFII, joined calls from Indigenous women for an end to multiple forms of violence, and uplifted Indigenous-led critical solutions for protecting water, land, and communities.

WECAN delegates participated in the opening ceremony, where the UNPFII Chairwoman set the agenda for this year’s session and shared the theme, “Ensuring Indigenous Peoples’ health, including in the context of conflict.” Indigenous Peoples are on the frontlines of dangerous fossil fuel and mining projects, and the climate crisis, and each day are defending their territories from further degradation and pollution and resisting violations of their rights and sovereignty. Ensuring Indigenous rights and health are an essential part of a Just Transition, and the future we are collectively working towards.

At the UNPFII, we celebrated the new role of Patricia Gualinga, Indigenous leader from the Kichwa Pueblo of Sarayaku in the Ecuadorian Amazon, who was appointed as a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues from 2026-2028. Patricia is the first Amazonian leader appointed to represent Indigenous Peoples of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean within the UNPFII governance structure. During the opening ceremony, Patricia spoke to the importance of meaningfully including Indigenous voices and solutions in decis-on making spaces, and the threats of extractive practices, such as mining, as we move towards renewable energy systems.

WECAN is honored that Patricia Gualinga is also the WECAN Coordinator in Ecuador where we are working with her on Indigenous women-led forest protection and reforestation. Ahead of the UNPFII, Osprey Orielle Lake, WECAN Executive Director, was honored to be invited, alongside other colleagues and partners, by Patricia Gualinga to a two-day strategy session to prepare for her term.

While we are still learning more about what unfolded following our in-person participation at UNPFII, we were deeply disappointed to hear that access to the main meeting room was restricted, creating barriers to Indigenous participation. We will be following-up to learn more and engage.

Indigenous leadership and knowledge systems are essential to the protection of biodiverse areas, living well within planetary boundaries, and cultivating long-standing egalitarian governance frameworks for current and future generations. WECAN is honored to stand in solidarity and support the leadership, voices, and solutions of Indigenous women and communities during the annual UNPFII, and every day.

WECAN UNPFII EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

Indigenous Women Resisting Extraction and Building a Just Transition

During the 25th UNPFII, WECAN hosted a series of panels with extraordinary speakers at our event “Indigenous Women Resisting Extraction and Building a Just Transition.” 

During the panels, speakers shared updates from current campaigns defending Indigenous territories from extraction and discussed the impacts of colonization, fossil fuels, mining, and climate disruption. The speakers also showcased powerful community projects for Just Transition and climate resilience and offered strategies grounded in rights, traditional knowledge, and sovereignty.

Many thanks and deep gratitude to the wonderful speakers.

• Aeisatu Bouba (Mbororo), Founder and Executive Director, Cameroon Indigenous Women Forum (CAIWOF), Cameroon

• Andrea Cuji Mancilla (Kichwa), Kichwa Native Peoples of Sarayaku Secretary, Jallinga Foundation Organizational Support, Amazonian Women Defenders of the Jungle Collective, WECAN Project Lead, Ecuador

• Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member and Project Coordinator, Turtle Island/USA

• Great-Grandmother Mary Lyons (Leech Lake Ojibwe), Ojibwe Elder, Author, Women of Wellbriety, International, United Nations Observer on Women/Indigenous Issues, Turtle Island/USA

• Jackeline Odicio (Kakataibo), Kakataibo Women's Federation from Peruvian Amazon, Peru

• Janene Yazzie (Diné), Director of Global Programmes, The Woven Project, Turtle Island

• Josefina Tunki (Shuar), Shuar Indigenous woman leader from Ecuadorian Amazon and President of TICCA Consortium, Ecuador

• Julia Horinek (Ponca Nation), Global North Indigenous Organizer for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) Indigenous Council, Plains Organizer for Movement Rights, WECAN Project Coordinator, Turtle Island/USA

• Patricia Gualinga (Kichwa), Member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, WECAN Coordinator in Ecuador, Spokeswoman for Mujeres Amazonicas, Ecuador

Several special announcements were shared during the event. Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca Nation), Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member and Project Coordinator, announced the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma’s recent endorsement of the Fossil Fuel Treaty (more details below). Patricia Gualinga (Kichwa), appointed Member of the UNPFII representing Indigenous Peoples of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, gave an update about the UNPFII proceedings.

Honoring Patricia Gualinga as an Appointed Member of the UNPFII

WECAN is honoring the outstanding leadership of Patricia Gualinga (Kichwa), Member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) for the 2026-2028 term. Patricia Gualinga is an Indigenous leader from the Kichwa Pueblo of Sarayaku, in the Ecuadorian Amazon. She is the first leader from the Amazon appointed to represent Indigenous Peoples of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean as part of the UNPFII.

We are so honored to work with Patricia in her role on the WECAN steering committee for the Escazú Agreement campaign and as the WECAN Coordinator in Ecuador, where she leads the Indigenous Women of the Ecuadorian Amazon Reforestation and Forest Protection Project, housed within WECAN's Women for Forests Program. 

On April 17 and 18, WECAN joined Patricia Gualinga (Kichwa) and the delegation of the People of Sarayaku in New York for a two-day meeting to discuss her work as a newly appointed Member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII). 

This collaborative gathering, which the Indigenous communities of Sarayaku call a "minga," was a two-day preparation meeting to discuss various ideas for firmly establishing and strengthening Patricia's goals within the UNPFII. Strategies and actions were designed by analyzing the forum's current state and emphasizing the rights of Indigenous people and the environment during roundtable discussions, presentations, and expert panels.

This meeting was joined by the current UNPFII Chairperson, Aluki Kortierk; the President of Sarayaku, Hernan Malaver; the Sarayaku delegation; and strategic allies and organizations. 

We are here to support Patricia Gualinga in her leadership and advocacy throughout her term with UNPFII and beyond!

Rights of Nature at the UNPFII

On April 20, at the UNPFII, the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) Indigenous Council hosted a special gathering, “Indigenous Cosmologies Guiding the Rights of Nature in Practice”, centering Indigenous voices and wisdom in advancing the Rights of Nature.

Speakers shared how Indigenous Rights and Rights of Nature can work together to advance Indigenous sovereignty and cosmologies while staying in harmonious relationship with Nature. 

Speakers of the event included:

• Casey Camp-Horinek, GARN Indigenous Council Chairwoman

• Julia Horinek, GARN Global North Indigenous Organizer

• Leo Cerda, GARN Global South Indigenous Organizer

• Sydney Males, GARN Indigenous Council

• Quetza Ramírez, GARN Youth Hub Facilitator

WECAN is a member of the GARN Executive Committee and honored to support the ongoing work of the Indigenous Council of GARN. Learn more and stay connected with the GARN Indigenous Council on Instagram @indigenouscouncil.

The Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma Endorses the Fossil Fuel Treaty

In April, the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma announced its endorsement of the Fossil Fuel Treaty, ahead of the historic First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels.

As the first Indigenous Nation to endorse the Fossil Fuel Treaty in the United States, the Ponca Nation joined a growing network of 37 Indigenous nations and communities and 18 countries working toward implementing a bold international proposal calling for an equitable and just phaseout of fossil fuels. 

The Ponca Tribe has long been a leader in progressive legislation to stop fossil fuel extraction. The Ponca Nation sits at the epicenter of fossil fuel fracking and extraction in Oklahoma, the sixth largest producer of natural gas and crude oil in the US, leading to decades of water, soil and air pollution. The Tribe has previously made history for banning fracking in their territory and becoming the first Tribe in the United States to pass a resolution recognizing the Rights of Nature and holding corporations liable for crimes against nature. 

WECAN is honored to support and uplift the Ponca Nation’s momentous endorsement and efforts, and to stand in solidarity with their outstanding leadership. Please learn more about this announcement and hear from Ponca Nation leaders Earl Howe III, Chairman of the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma, and Casey Camp-Horinek, Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador and WECAN Board Member and Project Coordinator, here.