As part of the commemoration of International Indigenous Women’s Day, which also coincides with Amazon Day in Brazil, Sister Laura Vicuña, a Brazilian religious sister and vice president of CEAMA, shared a profound reflection that resonates as a testimony and prophecy for the whole Church and society. She recognized that indigenous women, with their close connection to the land, represent a vital and spiritual force not only for the Amazon, but for the entire world.
“We women have all the strength, all the energy, and this close connection to the earth, which is our mother, which welcomes us and nourishes us. This connection to the earth makes us care for life, fight for rights, and have an active voice in society, in the Church, and in the communities where we live.”
The feminine heart of the Amazon
The Amazon cannot be understood without the active presence of its women. They are guardians of biodiversity, caregivers of community life, transmitters of language and ancestral knowledge. In Amazonian villages, women not only sustain daily life, but also weave networks of resistance in the face of the multiple threats weighing on the region: extractivism, deforestation, violence, and social exclusion.
Sister Laura Vicuña expressed it forcefully:
“We celebrate with great strength, with great struggle, and with great connection the defense of life, the defense of the land, and the defense of rights.”
These words summarize the irreplaceable role of Amazonian women as pillars of resistance, bearers of dignity, and sowers of hope.
Indigenous women: a prophetic voice in the Church and in society
CEAMA recognizes that the voice of indigenous Amazonian women is essential for a Church with a feminine, synodal, and prophetic face. Their leadership is not incidental, but constitutive of a new way of being Church in the territory, where dialogue, listening, and the defense of life become fundamental axes.
In society, their testimony also challenges the logic of power and exclusion. Indigenous women become a sign of active resistance to colonization in its new forms, and at the same time a source of alternatives for the construction of more just and inclusive societies.
A force that connects life and hope
The coincidence of these two celebrations—International Indigenous Women’s Day and Amazon Day in Brazil—reminds us that caring for the earth and the dignity of peoples are inseparable. Indigenous women are the living expression of this interconnection: the earth that gives life and the women who resist and protect merge into a single story of care and hope.
CEAMA renews its commitment to walk alongside them, convinced that without the voice, strength, and wisdom of indigenous women, it is not possible to dream of or build a vibrant, just, and fraternal Amazon.
By: Deivis Fernando Rueda – CEAMA Communications