This Women’s History Month, we celebrate the powerful leadership of one particular Indigenous woman who has faced the mining industry’s destruction while defending Indigenous sovereignty and protection of the Amazon.

Josefina Tunki is the first elected woman president of the Shuar Arutam people (PSHA), representing over 12,000 people living in 47 communities in its binational territory, spread across Ecuador and Peru. Her term will come to an end on March 31. Join us in gratitude and add your name to a letter that will be given to her on her last day as president!

Josefina Tunki has been opposing mining in the Amazon in defense of her community’s ancestral territory for years. The PSHA face multiple threats from contamination by mining operations, and companies have sown divisions among families. She has personally received death threats from the Vice-President of Solaris, a mining company with 26 concessions on PSHA land. Through all of this, Josefina has resisted and advocated for the safety and autonomy of her people.

Solidarity comes in many forms. Letting Josefina know we see her work and appreciate her is a part of that solidarity. This month and always, we honor her steadfast commitment to justice.