I'm a fire sign - won't you feel my solar power?

Me 5 minutes later:

part of kayapó’s speech during this event

also! she’s still alive! that sort of thing is always worth pointing out to show that we really aren’t too far removed from events like this! here’s a 2019 photo of her:

In the Philippines we had Apo Macli-ing Dulag, who was one of the most prominent indigenous leaders opposing the construction of the Chico River Dam in the 1970s, under the dictatorial regime of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

He was eventually assassinated in his home by military forces in 1980.

As for his words (from the Martial Law Museum website):

In the aftermath of his death, the dam project was abandoned.

Also, the son of the dictator who had Macli-ing Dulag killed has recently maneuvered his way into getting elected president, which means stories like this are at risk of being erased and forgotten. The Marcoses aren’t strangers to historical revisionism, which they employ time and time again with their methods ranging from casual and consistent denial of their various crimes to large-scale use of propaganda machines and social media troll farms.

I worry sometimes that stories of indigenous resistance like that of Macli-ing Dulag will be erased in the process of whitewashing history for political gain, but then I see stories like that of Tuira Kayapó above floating around the internet.

It’s a nice reminder that- even if these stories don’t make it to the history books for whatever reason- there will always be another story out there that will resonate, where someone can see Kayapó and think “Hey, that reminds me of Dulag”, or maybe the water-protectors of Standing Rock, or whoever else might come to mind who stood up to protect indigenous land from encroachment.

10/70

pp: @/connermar