The Do Lectures, the Achuar speak truth to power

December 3rd, 2009

Gregor made a powerful presentation at the Do Lectures his topic the threat to the Amazon rain forest. Harnessing the collective intelligence of the tribe, he showcases The Atwa, who embrace the state, pens and paper, GPS mapping technology, YouTube, Facebook, the internet and mobile communication technologies. To build a cohesive and coherent arguent against the exploitation of the Rainforest by the Peruvian Government. Some of it is not for the faint hearted.

He tells his story of how the Peruvian Government has systematically attempted to deny indigenous tribes in the Rainforest their right for freedom of speech, and the right to live where they want to live. He talks about the colossal environmental damage done by mineral extraction in the Amazon, and why companies or governments behave they way they do because they think they are running behind closed doors operations. He describes the power of converged technologies of cooperation; that enable the Atwa to speak truth to power even as far afield as the Amazon, his story has lessons for us all. Technologies of pens and paper, and more sophisticated technologies that we describe with the moniker 2.0 bring transformation. Lessons around the nature and the shape of the organisation, lessons about truth, trust, power and politics, lessons about networked communications and the ability to take information from multiple sources and blend that into a powerful artifact of information. As Shakespeare wrote, the pen is mightier than the sword. This man, quiet and humble made a powerful impact upon me. He did not know that, and, I did not tell him. But his story like Gabriels’s slowly but powerfully, impacted over days, weeks and months, about what type of world we want to live in and that ultimately – that, what we create and that what we make, is down to us.

Gregor has worked on indigenous rights and environmental issues in the Peruvian Amazon for 9 years and is co-founder and advisor to the non-profit indigenous rights group Shinai. He spent 7 years living in Peru working with indigenous communities to defend their territory from incursions by illegal loggers and petroleum companies. He has worked with some of the most remote communities in the Amazon, including people who have only recently entered into contact with the outside world, helping them cope with and be in control of the changes in their society. He has campaigned for improved government policy to protect peoples still living in isolation from the outside world.

Gregor has extensive experience in participative territory mapping, facilitating communities to draw maps of their territory and why it is important to them and using GPS and satellite technologies in order to turn hand maps into detailed geographic representations of indigenous land use. Gregor has helped Achuar and Nahua communities in Peru and the Wapishan in Guyana to prepare these maps in order to communicate the importance of the rainforest to their way of life and support indigenous land claims.

Gregor has worked extensively with indigenous communities affected by oil drilling and oil exploration. With the Achuar people of the Corrientes river in Northern Peru Gregor helped set up a community run environmental monitoring programme, training local people to photograph, film and document oil spills with a GPS, use a computer to systematise the information and publicise the impact of oil drilling on indigenous communities.

Gregor currently works for US-based indigenous rights campaign organisation Amazon Watch as Peru Programme Coordinator. Gregor has received the Sting and Trudie Styler Award for human rights and the environment.

Bookmarks: