Chilean Constitutional Reform: Mother Nature, Mapuche Women, and Decolonial Perspectives
Tuesday, January 31
4 PM ET
Knafel Center, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge
Online
RSVP at https://radcliffe-nenmf.formstack.com/forms/2023_ramamehtalecture - for in person
https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rhHNkdL7Q72u9z2Ydcfm3w - for online
Harvard Radcliffe Institute is pleased to welcome Elisa Loncón Antileo to deliver the Rama S. Mehta Lecture for 2022–2023. In 2021, Loncón was elected as one of the representatives of the Mapuche people to the Chilean Constitutional Convention, and was then named the Convention’s first president (July 2021–January 2022). The Convention was tasked with rewriting the dictatorship-era constitution, a process that began after mass protests across the nation in 2019 and a national vote in favor of replacing the old constitution in 2020. Although Chilean voters rejected the proposed revisions in September, the process of developing the recommendations—which directly addressed issues of gender parity in representation and environmental protections, among other changes—was instructive and will inform subsequent efforts toward reform.
In her talk, Loncon will discuss her experience—from personal, professional, and philosophical perspectives—leading the historic Chilean Constitutional Convention as an Indigenous woman, as well as lessons learned from her involvement. The roles of gender and indigeneity are inextricably linked in her analysis, and she will share her thoughts in the context of the Mapuche philosophy and knowledge paradigm, feminine spirits of the earth, and research methodologies shared by Indigenous peoples.
Speaker
Born in the Mapuche community of Lefweluan in Chile, Elisa Loncón Antileo is a linguist and an Indigenous rights and languages activist. She holds a PhD in humanities from the University of Leiden and a second PhD in literature from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Currently a professor in the Department of Education at the University of Santiago de Chile, Loncón researches the teaching of Mapudungun. She is also affiliated with the Center for Indigenous and Intercultural Studies of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. In 2021, Loncón was awarded the René Cassin Human Rights Award from the Basque Government to recognize her substantial contributions to the defense of human rights and was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People and one of Financial Times’s 25 most influential women.
Discussant
Emil’ Keme, 2022–2023 Harvard Radcliffe Institute fellow and professor, Department of English, Emory University
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The Falling Sky and The Yanomami Struggle
Tuesday, January 31
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Princeton, Chancellor Green and Online
RSVP at https://environment.princeton.edu/event/the-falling-sky-and-the-yanomami-struggle/
Livestream at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY4HvaEHEIs
The world-renowned shaman and Indigenous leader Davi Kopenawa will visit Princeton on Tuesday, January 31. He will speak at Chancellor Green’s Rotunda at 4:30 pm. Kopenawa is the author of the classic The Falling Sky and is at the forefront of struggles to guarantee Indigenous rights and to safeguard the Amazon rainforest.
Kopenawa will be accompanied by the acclaimed photographer Cláudia Andujar, the anthropologists Bruce Albert and Ana Maria Machado, and the Indigenous artists and activists Ehuana Yaira, Morzaniel Ɨramari, Joseca Mokahesi, and Dario Yanomami.
On February 3, the group will participate in the North American debut of The Yanomami Struggle, an exhibition at The Shed in New York dedicated to the collaboration and friendship between Andujar and the Yanomami people. The exhibition includes more than 80 drawings and paintings by Yanomami artists. Visitors will also discover new video works by contemporary Yanomami filmmakers. These works will appear alongside more than 200 photographs by Claudia Andujar that trace the artist’s encounters with the Yanomami and continue to raise visibility for their struggle to protect their land, people, and culture.
The Yanomami Struggle is organized by the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain and Instituto Moreira Salles in partnership with the Brazilian NGOs Hutukara Associação Yanomami and Instituto Socioambiental. Throughout the Spring, the Brazil LAB and the Department of Anthropology will help to organize guided tours for student groups to The Yanomami Struggle exhibition at The Shed in New York.
The event at Princeton, The Falling Sky and The Yanomami Struggle, is being organized by the Brazil LAB, the Department of Anthropology, and HMEI, together with other units at Princeton.
Not on campus? Watch the livestream on the Brazil LAB YouTube channel.
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The Energy Transition and Indigenous Communities in the US and Canada
Wednesday, February 8
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Faculty House, 64 Morningside Drive, New York and Online
RSVP at https://www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/events-calendar/energy-transition-opportunities-and-challenges-indigenous-communities-us-and-canada
Please join the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a panel of experts for a discussion about opportunities and risks for indigenous communities in the North American energy transition.
According to the US Department of Energy, wind resources on US tribal lands could meet up to 32% of US electricity needs. Similarly, according to MSCI, 79% of US lithium reserves are located within 35 miles of an Indian reservation. These data highlight the critical role that indigenous peoples and lands will play in the transition to a low carbon economy–in the US and globally.
Our panel will discuss the Biden administration's efforts to strengthen indigenous consultation and environmental justice around natural resources and renewable energy development with US native communities. We will also explore how Canadian indigenous leaders are developing equity-based partnerships to develop renewable energy and critical minerals projects under the principles of Free Prior and Informed Consent–and whether such partnerships can meet the needs of indigenous groups in the US as well as ESG-focused investors and project developers.
Moderator:
Robert Johnston, Executive Director, Columbia SIPA Center on Global Energy Policy
Speakers:
Niilo Edwards, CEO, First Nations Major Projects Coalition
Kate R. Finn, Esq., Executive Director, First Peoples Worldwide, University of Colorado
Chief Sharleen Gale, Chair, First Nations Major Projects Coalition & Chief, Fort Nelson First Nation
Wahleah Johns, Director, Office of Indian Energy Policy, US Department of Energy
Mark Podlasly, Chief Sustainability Officer, First Nations Major Projects Coalition
Gare Smith, Partner and Head of Business & Human Rights Practice, Foley Hoag
This event will be hosted in person in New York City and live-streamed via Zoom. All in-person attendees are required to have received a full COVID-19 vaccination series.
Advance registration is required. Upon registration, you will receive a confirmation email. The event will be recorded and the video recording will be added to our website following the event.
This event is open to the press, and registration is required to attend. For media inquiries or requests for interviews, please contact Natalie Volk (nv2388@columbia.edu).
For more information about the event, please contact energypolicyevents@columbia.edu.
Event Contact Information:
Center on Global Energy Policy
energypolicyevents@columbia.edu
More of these Energy (and Other) Events at http://hubevents.blogspot.com
If you attend these events and take notes, please share the information, especially since the two January 31 events occur at about the same time.