In October of 2003, a massive social revolt overthrew the President of Bolivia, forcing him to escape to the United States. The uprising was the culmination of 500 years of Indigenous resistance to colonization and an escalating cycle of Indigenous insurrections which have swept the country in the past four years, involving a variety of tactics.
“People are capable of solving their own
problems,” she said. “We don’t need the
government to tell us what to do.”
“Capitalism often disguises itself as a friend, but Native people understand its true role. Many Native people don’t know the terms I am using, but they know the effects of all these things that are happening to them.”
“I believe it is the state, its institutions and structures that are at fault for the oppressive and deprived conditions of Aboriginal people.”
“There is a word in my language that speaks to these issues: ‘wahkotowin.’ Today it is translated to mean kinship, relationship, and family as in human family. But at one time, from our place it meant the whole of creation. And our teachings taught us that all of creation is related and inter-connected to all things within it.”
“Real changes and improvements for our people can not be obtained through parliament. It is a mistake and misleading to think that the white man’s government will ever bring any real freedom and equality to us.”