Revision 8204103 of "Noemí Gualinga" on simplewiki

'''Noemí Gualinga''' (born {{birth based on age as of date |44 |2012|May|25}}<ref name="Caspani2012" />, known as "mother of the jungle") is a community leader and activist for the [[Sarayaku]]. Sarayakus are the [[Amazonian Kichwas|Amazonian Kichwa]] [[indigenous]] group from the [[Ecuador|Ecuadorian]] [[Amazon rainforest|Amazon]].<ref name="Castro2020">{{Cite news |last=Castro |first=Mayuri |date=2020-12-13 |title=‘She goes and helps’: Noemí Gualinga, Ecuador’s mother of the jungle |language=en-US |work=Mongabay |url=https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/she-goes-and-helps-noemi-gualinga-ecuadors-mother-of-the-jungle/ |url-status=live |access-date=2021-03-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126035459/https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/she-goes-and-helps-noemi-gualinga-ecuadors-mother-of-the-jungle/ |archive-date=2021-01-26}}</ref> numbering roughly 1,200.<ref name="Amnesty" />

Noemí is the sister of [[Patricia Gualinga]]. She is the mother of [[Nina Gualinga|Nina]] and [[Helena Gualinga]].<ref name="Castro2020" /> and daughter of [[Cristina Gualinga]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Carlos Fresneda|first=Puerto|title=Ecohéroes: 100 voces por la salud del planeta|publisher=RBA Libros|year=2020|isbn=9788491877172}}</ref> Her family is a family of Sarayaku rights defenders. She is married to [[Swedish-speaking population of Finland|Fenno-Swedish]] biologist [[Anders Henrik Sirén]]. They have lived in [[Puyo, Pastaza]] since 2017.<ref name="Castro2020" />

== Early life ==
As a young women, Gualinga worked in the Organization of the Indigenous Peoples of Pastaza. From the age of 23, she was shown in radio broadcasts in Puyo. It was giving out medical advice and working for the preservation of Kichwa culture.<ref name="Castro2020" />

== Sarayaku oil development conflict ==
In 1996, the [[Ecuadorian government]] granted [[Argentina|Argentinian]] oil company Compañía General de Combustibles (CGC)(also known as the Argentinean General Fuel Company)<ref name="Pachamama">{{Cite web |title=Sarayaku - Pachamama Alliance |url=https://www.pachamama.org/advocacy/sarayaku |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804071223/https://www.pachamama.org/advocacy/sarayaku |archive-date=4 August 2020 |access-date=2021-04-01 |website=www.pachamama.org}}</ref>, there was exploration to territory of the Sarayaku without first consulting the local community. The company entered Sarayaku land in 2002 with the help of [[Armed Forces of Ecuador|Ecuadorian military]]. They allegedly committed [[human rights]] abuses. There were even threats of rape.<ref name="Caspani2012">{{Cite news |last=Caspani |first=Maria |date=25 May 2012 |title=Indigenous women lead land rights struggle in Ecuadorean Amazon |work=Thomson Reuters Foundation |url=https://news.trust.org/item/20120525185600-mr87y/ |url-status=live |access-date=2021-04-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401052638/https://news.trust.org/item/20120525185600-mr87y |archive-date=1 April 2021}}</ref>

In response, the Sarayaku community was led by female leaders such as Gualinga. They organized protests against the intrusions in 2003. They opened a legal case that was heard before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).<ref name="Caspani2012" /> The Sarayaku were able to block oil development by constructing "Camps for Peace and Life".<ref name="Pachamama" />

On July 25, 2012, the IACHR ruled the State of Ecuador responsible for violating community rights of the Sarayaku and failing to obtain [[Free, prior and informed consent|free, prior, and informed consent]] from the indigenous community.<ref name="Pachamama" /> It was in accordance with international standards for indigenous consent before development projects, laws, or policies affecting their way of life.<ref name="Amnesty">{{Cite web |title=Ecuador: The Sarayaku struggle goes global |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2012/05/ecuador-sarayaku-struggle-goes-global/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126215217/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2012/05/ecuador-sarayaku-struggle-goes-global/ |archive-date=26 November 2020 |access-date=2021-04-01 |website=www.amnesty.org |language=en}}</ref>

== 2020 flooding and COVID-19 pandemic ==
In 2020, the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] began to spread among indigenous communities. The [[Bobonaza River|Bobonaza]] and [[Arajuno]] rivers flooded, heavily affecting the Sarayaku villages. During the [[quarantine]] period, from March to July, Noemí Gualinga organized daily missions to bring food relief from the city of [[Puyo, Pastaza|Puyo]] to her home. She helped organize [[COVID-19 testing]] in Sarayaku.<ref name="Castro2020" />

== Other activities ==
Gualinga has led the Sarayaku Women’s Association, Kuriñampi (''Golden Paths''), since the year 2017. She helps the women's sales of jewelry and handicrafts. She is also a member of Mujeres Amazónicas. It is a collective for women defenders of natural rights.<ref name="Castro2020" />

Noemí appears rarely as a leader in photographs. However, she has taken part in protests such as those of March 2018 at the [[Carondelet Palace]] in [[Quito]]. During that protests, 60 women from 11 indigenous nationalities demanded an audience with President [[Lenin Moreno]].<ref name="Castro2020" />

Gualinga continues to work as a community leader and provider of helps. In one event, she helped a woman who had fled from her [[domestic violence|abusive]] husband. The woman had given her 12-year-old daughter to a man in a form of [[forced marriage]] long-running in indigenous communities.<ref name="Castro2020" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gualinga, Noemí}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1960s births]]
[[Category:Ecuadorian women activists]]
[[Category:Women environmentalists]]
[[Category:Ecuadorian environmentalists]]
[[Category:People from Pastaza Province]]
[[Category:20th-century_Ecuadorian_women]]
[[Category:21st-century Ecuadorian women]]
[[Category:Ecuadorian people of Quechua descent]]
[[Category:Indigenous rights activists]]
[[Category:Indigenous activists of the Americas]]
[[Category:Indigenous women of the Americas]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples and the environment]]