Translator: Gisela Giardino Reviewer: Sebastian Betti
Florencia Polimeni: In many of our conversations before we got here
I kept thinking about the big differences that exist
between the indigenous peoples worldview and the worldview of the Western world,
or the white world as you say sometimes.
I would like that you share with us some of those differences.
Especially, the ones related to identity.
The way indigenous people see identity.
Félix Díaz: Well, first of all I want to thank you
for the opportunity you give me to talk in such an immense space.
The truth is that it is quite a historical moment
for us indigenous peoples.
My name is Félix Díaz, I descend from the Qom people,
an indigenous people from South American Chaco.
Our ancestors have lived in that region.
And we are here today because we were able to overcome testing times
during the first invasion on this continent.
Note the name of this building, Colón [Columbus],
who came to conquer this continent, and afterwards so many times
they tried to finish with the indigenous peoples.
And today I am here, alive and present,
which gives us a great opportunity to tell society who we are,
what we want, and what we look for.
The indigenous world for us, for thousands of years,
have survived due to the relationship with Mother Earth itself,
and with nature, sheltering in difficult times.
Those days there were no stores, no paved roads, no whites.
It was indigenous. And what provided us with food?
Nature itself.
And we could also take care of the environment.
We were able to preserve those areas where you could hunt, fish, gather.
There was no selfishness, envy nor competition.
We were a hospitable world, full of love, and respect towards human beings.
And also towards non-human beings.
Because of that way of life we ​​could subsist in difficult times.
Back then there was no drinking water.
There were no pharmacies. There was nothing.
The indigenous world was free until colonization came in.
They put barbed wires, established borders,
and many of the people who lived together,
some were left in the region of Paraguay and others in Bolivia.
FP: Tell us how this affected the way to name them.
FD: The truth is that since this continent was invaded
they have imposed names on us.
Even for the people.
They called us Toba Indians at that time --
which is a Guarani word --
with disdain.
They gave me a name I didn't choose.
My original name is Felle,
which is the name my parents gave me.
And when they took me to the civil registry to register me,
the civil registry officer did what he wanted.
At that time, I was about 16 or 17 years old,
and they put me against a wall, they made fun of me.
Then they asked my name, who are my parents,
what is my last name, things I didn't understand.
And there they put me Félix Díaz.
Since then, that became my name before society, Félix Díaz.
FP: And what about the subject of time, which we find so special here in TED?
How do you see the difference with the concept of time of indigenous peoples?
FD: For us time is not in our domain,
because indigenous people when the sun rises, or the sun comes in,
they do what they can in those days.
If something is not finished, it's left for the other day.
And there are no schedules, no holidays,
and when the elderly gather together in assembly
they never think of breakfast, lunch, tea time or dinner.
A topic is talked through till the end of the day.
Nobody stands up. Nobody says "I have other things to do."
It's all focused on a place where they try to solve an important issue.
FP: So they talk until there's nothing more to be said.
FD: Until resolving the issue at hand.
That's why it's important for us that you know us.
Because many times they want to impose a foreign doctrine to ours
and we cannot adapt to it because we have another way of life.
The indigenous leadership has been manipulated too.
The word "cacique" [chief] is not the title a leader should have.
Because it sounds like "almost" in Spanish which is also a kind of mockery
from the criollos of the area,
as if they were mocking us.
Indigenous leaderships have their own name depending on the different peoples.
In our case I am a "qarashé" of the Qom Potae Napocna Navogoh community,
which means "leader with his people."
It's like a stake held up by strings.
And that string is not stuck in the ground but held by the floor
and holds the strings that represent the Councils of Elders.
For us the old man is our guide, like our wise man,
and our teacher because he is the one who knows things the most.
A person who can tell you how to do things.
And always articulated as well with the elderly women.
They have a pretty interesting wisdom.
That's why it's important for us that you come to know us
through this space.
FP: What about property, the concept of property
which is so important in a society like ours?
How do you live property and limits?
FD: It's a very serious problem for us that of private property
because in the indigenous world there is no property.
When you make a house, you leave it and a family comes in.
And nobody can claim or say: "this is my house, it's mine."
Or a piece of land, if someone comes.
That's why an indigenous person living in common territory is always circulating,
leaving the farm, a house. They share. Nobody says: "this is mine."
FP: What do you mean by circulating?
FD: You go like changing places, in the mountains, in the countryside,
beside the lagoon, there is no fixed settlement.
The mountain belongs to everyone.
Nobody says, "the lagoon is our property."
The field, the agriculture, indigenous people don't feel owners
but share it all with others.
For that reason the state has a social debt with the indigenous people.
Because the national state and the provincial states
deny the law of common property to indigenous peoples.
Lawmakers have to work hard,
listening to the proposals of indigenous peoples
so that we are not expelled from the different places,
because we don't hold ownership on the land.
FP: Is this the fight that keeps you awake at night?
FD: That is the key challenge in the indigenous struggle.
Today we are undergoing a very difficult situation.
Justice is used to condemn us.
I have a civil lawsuit for usurpation of an ancestral territory
where my parents are buried.
And Justice is trying to condemn me for something that is not of the state.
It belongs to the indigenous peoples.
Because we don't come from a distant country.
We are native to those lands. We are not foreigners.
Why are they kicking us out?
Because of the wealth in natural resources in there.
So the states keep our territories
to keep the natural resources which are inside them:
oil, mining, soybeans.
Everything related with agricultural or livestock farming
makes the indigenous people end up pushed to a corner.
And this turns into many deaths for not having the mountain, the lagoon,
for not having the ample territory.
And we cannot develop our cultural activities
for lack of territory.
FP: What's your dream?
FD: My dream is to be able to tell society who we are.
Because I think you don't know much on the subject of indigenous peoples.
And when I was young I dreamed with being a teacher, a nurse.
Being a teacher to educate others in the way of life as indigenous people.
And a nurse to be able to heal those people
who need to relieve their physical pain.
So without realizing it, I am making that dream come true,
this dream I have now, and it makes me feel calm
to be useful for the indigenous world because I can tell society what we are,
what we think.
And the life of indigenous peoples is not in the city.
It's in the territories.
That's like our supermarket.
There we find our medicine, our spirituality, our food,
the raw materials for crafts like this chawar
the Wichí people make.
Made of a fiber called chawar.
It's a beautiful work that makes us proud to wear,
because it is indigenous people's work.
It's what gives us the change to show the world
the potential we have.
But many times that potential has been ignored
for a matter of political and partisan interests.
And we are fighting for the indigenous people to be free,
because we don't want to be sponsored by no government,
by no political party, nor for any religion.
We want to be who we are, the natural pre-existing beings before the state.
FP: If you had to close this conversation
and choose something to say to the people here before you leave
what would it be?
FD: What I would suggest to you is
to reconnect with yourselves.
Don't wait for others to tell you what do you have to do.
We have our ability to develop what we are.
We don't own anyone.
We are not a product of science nor technology.
We are natural beings with different abilities,
from different cultures,
and we have to be proud of what we are,
to belong to a culture who has been able to pass the message
from generation to generation.
If we don't find ourselves again
it is difficult to solve problems.
Because the problem is not in the other, but in ourselves.
If we change, we can help others change.
But I cannot change the other by forcing them,
lying to them or buying them.
I have to change myself to be able to transmit to the other
the desire for coexistence in peace, in harmony with others.
FP: Thank you, Félix.
FD: Thank you very much.
(Applause)