Indigenous Entrepreneurship Through the Appreciation of Handicrafts
Socorro Baniwa is an artisan, activist, wife and mother. She travels through indigenous communities looking to expand and strengthen the entrepreneurial community. Currently, the overwhelming majority of indigenous women make their living from handicrafts.
For this reason, organizing associations has been the main way to get more value for handicraft work. But during her talk at Ciclos Amazônia 4.0 – Year II, Socorro Baniwa brought up an important incitement: the added value of the work done by indigenous women’s hands!
Socorro Baniwa's speech was one of the most applauded on the first morning of the event
“Does the necklace I wear, the earring I wear have the value it deserves? The added value is the value of our culture. We collected the seeds ourselves. We went to the forest to get them. And it’s not just a lump! Today we put the price as a means of survival. But our product does have cultural and social value, yes, it has to generate profit, yes, because each territory has its value, its individuality! Because the trees are there, the rivers are there and we’re the ones who take care of them,” says Socorro.
The leader also points out that the largest concentration of environmental preservation of lands has been ensured by the indigenous peoples who suffer from threats, murders, invasions, rapes and all kinds of violence.
“Talking about economy in territory is to join our fight and each person who listens to us, who thinks with us. The seed is our diamond because it is ours, it is ancestral,” she states to applause, adding that all value generated by the work of indigenous peoples benefits the collective.
