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Climate Hero: Artemisa Xakriabá

Most of us have heard of Greta Thunberg by now, but there are some other lesser-known young climate activists out there who are also picking up the torch. Meet Artemisa Xakriabá, 19, who hails from Brazil’s Xakriabá Tribe, and is fighting the destruction of the Amazon, and her people.

 

Artemisa’s tribe in Brazil, that numbers in the tens of thousands, faces real-life and immediate danger to the destruction of the Amazon: their homes, their livelihoods, and their food. She is one of a growing group of young climate leaders who are facing adults head-on and calling for immediate change

“We often say that nature is our mother because she gives us life, she gives us food. We have a duty to defend her.”
— Artemisa Xakriabá

So what exactly is Artemisa fighting against?

Brazil’s powerful president, Jair Bolsonaro, that’s who. A few of his grand accomplishments include giving the green light to farmers and miners to target and destroy indigenous lands, rolling back protections for indigenous reserves, denying there is a climate problem (our favorite) and generally wishing Brazil’s indigenous people would be “exterminated” because “they do not speak our language, they have no money, [and] they have no culture.” Sounds like a real peach, and Artemisa has her work cut out for her.

When Artemisa joined fellow climate activist’s in NYC this fall, she said: “We are fighting for our sacred territory…we are being persecuted, threatened, murdered, only for protecting our own territories. We cannot accept one more drop of indigenous blood spilled.”

Check out her speech at this year’s climate rally:

Go Artemisa!

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