Last Updated on April 7, 2025
Yakoana – The Voice of Indigenous Peoples, is documentary film about the First World Conference of Indigenous Peoples, which took place in the jungles of Brazil in the summer of 1992.
Bringing together nearly 1000 representatives from 92 Indigenous Nations around the world, the conference was organized in lieu of United Nations Earth Summit, which took place on week after the conference, in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.
The Earth summit was attended by leaders from all major industrial States to discuss the world’s growing environmental crisis – however, only one indigenous representative was permitted to speak. The participants of indigenous conference chose Marcos Terena, who founded the first indigenous political movement in Brazil in the 1970s, to represent them.
The United Nations gave Marcos five minutes to speak. It is said, however, that in those five minutes Terena broke 500 years of silence.
In Yakoana, you will hear some of the message that Terena delivered to the UN Summit, and learn about the histories, cultures, and struggles of the World’s Indigenous People.
‘We who believe are most familiar with nature … you must become our allies. Do not fear us because the future of the Indians is your future too. And it is also the future of the planet.” – Marcos Terena.
Across the world right now, Indigenous peoples are facing a renewed assault on their lands, rights, and ways of life.
From extractive industries pushing deeper into ancestral territories, to governments rolling back hard-won protections,
the threat is global—and it is growing.
What makes this moment especially dangerous is how little attention it receives.
Stories like this are disappearing in real time. Mainstream media
barely covers it and the coverage is fragmented. The public is left without the context
needed to understand what is truly at stake.
That is exactly why IC Magazine exists..
For more than 20 years, IC has reported on Indigenous struggles worldwide — consistently, independently, and without compromise.
We don’t follow news cycles; we trace patterns. We don’t sensationalize; we provide context.
And when the world looks away, we stay focused.
But this work is increasingly difficult to sustain.
We refuse to lock our reporting behind a paywall. We don’t sell access through subscriptions.
And we don’t answer to advertisers. IC Magazine survives solely because readers like you choose to
support independent Indigenous journalism.
Please donate today if you can. Every contribution helps us to continue this crucial work.
Thank you,
John Ahni Schertow
Founder and Editor in Chief
