Los Angeles, California (ICC)

After attending The New World premier in Lima, Peru, Q’orianka Kilcher spent a week traveling by river to the remote Rio Corrientes region to witness the critical situation facing Indigenous peoples after years of contamination from oil drilling activities in the area. In response, the United Nations has invited her to participate in events at the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples’ in August.

Of Peruvian Quechua and Huachipaeri descent, Q’orianka visited the area to learn about the serious health and environmental crisis facing the Indigenous Achuar peoples who live deep in the Peru’s northern Amazon rainforest. The Achuar currently suffer grave health effects and threats to their cultural survival as a result of petroleum pollution on their formerly-pristine lands. Her trip was organized by Amazon Watch, a California-based non-profit organization that preserves the rainforest and supports Indigenous peoples’ rights.

On her fact-finding visit to the Amazon, Q’orianka visited Achuar communities affected by 35 years of oil drilling operations by Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum (OXY) and Pluspetrol, an Argentine company. Texas-based ConocoPhillips, the third largest oil company in the United States, has further plans to drill in neighboring areas of pristine Amazon rainforest, also the homeland of the Achuar. The Achuar people have declared that they do not want any oil drilling operations on their sacred land. In May 2006, the president of the Achuar Federation (FECONACO) traveled to the company’s shareholder’s meeting to express his people’s concerns.

Q’orianka, 16, made the long journey to the oil extraction zone known as Huayuri, formerly operated by Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum (OXY), by boat from the city of Iquitos. Along the way she visited and stayed in Achuar communities where she was told stories about the impact the oil industry has had on the region. People told her about their illnesses, such as stomach pain, dizziness, skin rashes as well as unknown diseases, and how they have been exposed to pollutants by eating fish, drinking water and cleaning with water from the river.

“On my recent visit to the Peruvian Amazon, I saw the beauty of the rainforest, but I also saw the terrible impact on health and the environment caused directly by the operations of oil companies like OXY and Pluspetrol. I have witnessed oil spills, polluted rivers, dying animals, and many sick children.

“This saddens me profoundly, and I am also embarrassed that one of the companies is from Los Angeles, California, where I live. I cannot believe that oil companies are allowed to do this without assuming any social or environmental responsibility,” Q’orianka said.

Leila Salazar, an organizer with Amazon Watch who also traveled to the affected region said, “One of the gravest forms of contamination is the production waters from oil extraction. For 35 years these toxic waters have been systematically dumped directly into drinking rivers and streams at an alarming rate of up to 1,000,000 barrels a day. These waters are made up of toxic hydrocarbons that cause genetic alterations, and are made up of well know carcinogens and other toxic metals such as barium, nickel, mercury and arsenic.”

For years, the Achuar people have been expressing concern about the dumping of toxic waste into their rainforest environment, but it was not until recently that their concerns were confirmed by a government report. On May 29, 2006, the Peruvian Health Ministry gave the Achuar Federation (FECONACO) the report, which formally underscores the critical health situation of the Achuar, who tested at high levels of cadmium and lead in their blood.

According to Andres Sandi, President of FECONACO, “This report states that among my brothers and sisters (between the ages of 18 and 60), it can be observed that 99.2 percent exceed the accepted levels of cadmium, and that our children have high levels of lead in their blood. Of the 74 blood samples from children under 18, 66.2 percent exceed the established limit of lead for the infant population. This is worrisome because we know that lead is dangerous to our health, especially for children. It has been documented that lead causes such symptoms as developmental retardation, behavioral and learning disruptions, as well mental retardation; among other symptoms.”

Q’orianka sent a letter to OXY’s CEO, Ray Irani, requesting a meeting and a commitment to respect Indigenous peoples’ rights and an enforcement of the company’s Human Rights Policy enacted in December 2005.

Upon her return to Los Angeles, Q’orianka was contacted by the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and was asked to address world leaders on the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples’ on August 9, 2006, in New York City. She will speak at the United Nations Headquarters about her experience in Peru, on a panel discussion entitled “Indigenous Peoples: human rights, dignity and development with identity.”