Episode 2. Indigenous Lawyers: weaving rights

Participants:

Amilcar Pop (Guatemala)

Benito Morales (Guatemala)

Cristian Otzin (Guatemala)

Edie Cux (Guatemala)

Lucia Xiloj (Guatemala)

Wendy Geraldina López (Guatemala)

Bhim Rai (Nepal)

Dinesh Kumar Ghale (Nepal)

Manoj Aathpahariya (Nepal)

Shankar Limbu (Nepal)

Tahal Thami (Nepal)

In recent decades, law and judicial litigation have been used to address the multiple impacts on Indigenous Peoples territories and livehoods. In this regard, the Indigenous lawyers act before the courts as transformative connectors of worlds. These lawyers work translate their cosmovisions into the formal language of hegemonic law, connecting distinct realities and transforming the classical understanding of law.

In this episode we listen to 11 indigenous lawyers from Guatemala and Nepal. We will learn about their training, their motivations, the main challenges of litigation while advocating for Indigenous Peoples’ rights. We will hear about their personal experiences and collective achievements. Through their testimony we will learn about the main obstacles in their countries and the strategies of resistance against colonization. For example, the colonial thinking imposed by “Eurocentrism” on the one hand and “Hinduism” on the other.

Concept. script, recording, production: Digno Montalván Zambrano

Script review: Lieselotte Viaene

English interpretation : by Manuel May

Editing, music, and mastering: Juan Pablo Alvarado

General coordination: Digno Montalván, Ana Paula García Nieto, and Lieselotte Viaene