18
Mar
Women’s Declaration
Las Mujeres Hablan: Women, Seeds, and Agriculture
Women’s Declaration for New Mexico 2007
LIVING DRAFT
Preamble (short version)
We believe that female and male energy is found within the other and that women are sacred beings, unique human beings of the Earth. We believe that all people belong to one earth community as a human family.
The earth community stands at a defining moment in time. Injustices, poverty, ignorance, corruption, crime and violence have deepened and our Earth Mother is suffering. These offenses have lead to values that have become hurtful and a destructive way of living.
Preamble (long version)
Women are sacred.
In our diverse yet increasingly interdependent homelands, it is imperative that we, the people of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another as in all relationships, to the greater community of life and to future generations. We are one human family with one earth community with a common destiny. Female and male energy is found within the other.
Humanity is part of a vast evolving multiverse. Earth is our home and our mother is alive with a unique community of life givers. The life givers are Women. The protection of Women, their vitality and their well-being is the sacred fluid of love.
The Earth community stands at a defining moment in time. Injustices, poverty, ignorance, corruption, crime and violence against women have deepened and our earth mother is suffering. Corrupt fundamental racism has made changes into our present attitudes and values have become ways of hurtful and destructive living. These need to be returned to the light of truth- colorful sounds of our Earth Mother.
The choice is ours: to care for our Mother Earth and one another or participate in the destruction of ourselves and all life givers.
We, therefore, declare the following:
1. Whereas, women are the nurturers of the human seed within their wombs are bearers of the blessing of creation through the process of giving birth,
2. Whereas, because of the profound role of women in creation, ancient cultures and civilization throughout human history and today have revered the earth as our Mother, the source of all life,
3. Whereas, women’s bodies are intimately connected to Mother Earth as reflected in our moon cycles that are the basis for procreation and birthing of children,
4. Whereas, mothers and grandmothers continue to be the primary caregivers of children through breastfeeding, feeding, and nurturing, from infancy to all the stages of our human lives,
5. Whereas, women have also nurtured other women historically and traditionally serving as midwives and helping one another raise their children along with their extended families,
6. Whereas, women are believed to have been the first seed savers and contributed to the cultivation of crops in a way that transformed human existence and, today, in our families and communities mothers and grandmothers have continued to be the primary caretakers of seeds,
7. Whereas, women have a special relationship with food in their role as farmers, nurturers, seed savers, and cooks and, therefore, they are the holders of culturally significant recipes and methods for storing and preparing food,
8. Whereas, many of the increasing numbers of small scale, independent farmers are women farmers from various backgrounds who are dedicated to growing clean, healthy, and fair food and to restoring harmony to the earth,
9. Whereas, women provide an important support system for all the activities of operating our ranchitos, the family farms and ranches, including serving as part of the labor essential to the process, providing meals for other laborers, and teaching children the values of land-based culture and way of life,
10. Whereas, women are often the teachers of life skills to their children and are therefore important to ensuring that traditional knowledge is passed of from generation to generation.
11. Whereas, women play important roles in our communities as spiritual leaders who offer blessings at important times in our lives and who offer guidance on important life decisions,
12. Whereas, women in traditional communities hold essential traditional knowledge including teachings about medicinal plants, where they can be harvested, and how they should be used,
13. Whereas, historically, women’s role as homemakers was broad and including helping one another to build, periodically plaster and replaster, and maintain their homes,
14. Whereas, for millennia, women have harvested foods such as piñon, quelites, tsimaja, asparagus, verdolagas, chocoyole, and many varieties of berries, which we regard as special gifts and blessings,
15. Whereas, historically and traditionally, women’s roles in families and communities were highly valued and the equally important role of men included providing the needed support system in order to raise healthy families,
16. Whereas, women today are often not respected as they were traditionally and are often subjected to violence in their own homes by those closest to them,
17. Whereas, women today and historically have, out of the love of their children and men in their families, have been at the forefront of resisting all forms of violence including war,
18. Whereas, because of the nature of women’s bodies related to procreation and our intimate relationship with the earth through farming, herb gathering, and earthwork, we are particularly sensitive to exposure to pollutants from various sources,
19. Whereas, the parts of our bodies meant to nurture and nourish our children are also most susceptible to disease and cancer considering that elevated levels of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and other deadly diseases result from exposure to toxins,
20. Whereas, mothers and grandmothers who feed and nurture their children are concerned about the existence of synthetic hormones and pesticide residues in foods resulting in unprecedented effects on boys and girls such as premature puberty, cancer, and other long-term effects that are unknown,
21. Whereas, our families are also threatened by the unknown health and ecological effects of genetically engineered seeds, plants, and animals, and we are gravely concerned about the patenting of human life which could have unintended consequences for our families and future generations,
22. Whereas, New Mexico is home to various polluting industries, mining operations, power plants, and nuclear facilities that, although serve as a source of financial income for some of our families, also are responsible for pollution that harms all of our families and are part of a pattern of economic development that displaces traditional peoples from the land,
23. Whereas, women are often low-wage workers in these same polluting industries exposed to certain toxins and women are often low-wage agricultural workers who are exposed to pesticides and herbicides in industrial agriculture,
24. Whereas, women have played a key role along with men in social movements to achieve social, economic, and environmental justice by voicing concerns about the threats of toxins to our families and by calling for livelihoods for ourselves and our families that are clean, healthy, and dignified,
25. Be it resolved that we are gathered to declare our reverence for our women ancestors that nurtured generation upon generation so that we could be given the blessing of life,
26. Be it further resolved that we will collectively and intentionally work to carry on the seed saving, farming, and ranching traditions of our ancestors and to pass these teachings on to the younger generations,
27. Be it further resolved that we will resist the genetic engineering and patenting of life so that we may maintain the integrity of our seeds, our right to grow our own food, and the sacredness of life itself,
28. Be it further resolved that we will raise our children to be conscious human beings mindful of the sacred gift of life we have been granted by the creator, to be reverent of our Mother Earth, and to be respectful in their relations,
29. Be it further resolved that we will work in solidarity with each other in our struggles to defend the air, land, and water from contamination, exploitation, and commodification,
30. Be it further resolved that we honor, respect, and recognize the dignity of women and their families throughout the world and here at home who are subjected to exposure to toxins through their work, their food, or their proximity to pollution and that we resolve to speak and act in solidarity with them in efforts to defend the health of their families and communities,
31. Be it further resolved that we will continue to play an important role in reshaping our communities to achieve a vision of safe, healthy, and joyful lives for our families and communities with good, healthy and locally grown food, good livelihoods that honor the dignity of every human person, and a meaningful and spiritual relationship with Mother Earth.
32. Be it further resolved that we will support the work of Tewa Women United …..(add language here)
33. Be it further resolved that we will support the work of Honor Our Pueblo Existence to address past, present and future issues arising from the Nuclear Industry that causes pollution and contamination to our land, air, and water; demand clean-up of these sites, and question the continued manufacturing of nuclear weapons within the Sacred Jemez
Mountains and other places in the world.
34. Be it further resolved that we will support the work of the Traditional Native American Farmers Association…. (add language here)
35. Be it further resolved that we will support the work of the New Mexico Acequia Association to sustain our way of life by protecting water as a communal resource and by strengthening the farming and ranching traditions of our families and communities,
36. Be it further resolved that we will honor and respect the women in our lives including our mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers by thanking them for giving us live and for nurturing us throughout our lives,
37. Be it further resolved that we will teach our children, both boys and girls, the importance of living close to the land, having good relations with one another, and acting with dignity and respect in our actions to protect Mother Earth.
38. May it be further resolved that we the undersigned, have read this document and are in support of Las Mujeres Hablan: Women, Seeds and Agriculture; Women’s Declaration for New Mexico 2007. We find it to be true and will assist wherever possible to learn and teach the children the importance of living close to the land, having respectful relations with one another and act with dignity and respect to protect Mother Earth, so she in turn can continue to care for us.