Indigenous Youth in the Ecuadorian Amazon Turn to Rap Music to Defend the Rainforest and Preserve Native Languages
Indigenous youth across the Ecuadorian Amazon are utilizing rap music as a form of cultural resistance to spotlight environmental threats, extractive industries, and the risk of language extinction. Artists such as Willan Gualinga (Taki Supay), Misael Elías Criollo Grefa (Misa17), Zona Verde, and Tzitzanu write and perform in native languages including Kichwa, A’ingae, Shuar, and Sapara. According to data from the EcoCiencia Foundation and MapBiomas, a significant portion of Ecuador's mining and oil concessions overlap with Indigenous territories. While these artists face hurdles such as high production costs and safety risks from speaking out against economic activities, they aim to raise global awareness and inspire younger generations, as reported by Mongabay.
Key points
- Indigenous artists in the Ecuadorian Amazon are using rap music to protest environmental degradation and defend their ancestral territories.
- Performers like Willan Gualinga, Misa17, Zona Verde, and Tzitzanu rap in native languages such as Kichwa, A’ingae, Shuar, and Sapara to help preserve them from extinction.
- Data compiled by the EcoCiencia Foundation and MapBiomas indicates that 71% of mining in Ecuador is located in the Amazon region, with 44.5% sitting within Indigenous territories.
- Artists report facing high production costs, a lack of local recording studios, and security risks due to publicly criticizing extractive projects.
- The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled in 2012 that the Ecuadorian state violated the collective rights of the Sarayaku people, though parts of the ruling remain unfulfilled.
What Happened
Young Indigenous artists across the Ecuadorian Amazon are turning to rap music to raise awareness about environmental threats facing their homelands and to keep their native languages alive, according to Mongabay. Willan Gualinga, performing as Taki Supay from the Sarayaku community, draws on ancestral stories and the struggle to protect the rainforest. Misael Elías Criollo Grefa, known as Misa17, is the first rapper from the A’i Cofán nationality, and his track Ingi Tsampi has gained hundreds of thousands of views online. In the southern Amazon, the duo Zona Verde—comprising Raúl Vargas (Robenban) and Alejandro Moya (Naruman)—champions calls for clean water, while artist Tzitzanu raps to protect Sapara culture and protest the oil industry.
Context
According to data compiled by the EcoCiencia Foundation and provided to Mongabay through the collective mapping initiative MapBiomas, 71% of mining in Ecuador is situated in the Amazon region, with 44.5% of that mining located inside Indigenous territories. Furthermore, oil concessions cover 63% of lands belonging to Amazonian Indigenous peoples and nationalities. Many of these communities have long resisted extractive projects. For instance, the Sarayaku community's opposition to an oil company led to a 2012 ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which found that the state had violated the community's collective rights. More than 14 years later, some elements of the ruling, including the removal of leftover explosives, remain unfulfilled according to reporting.
