30 June 2020updated 03 Aug 2021 6:45am

How Prints for Communities is supporting indigenous groups against Covid-19

As the threat posed by the pandemic to indigenous people grows, a one-month print sale provides the opportunity to help those affected.

By Gerry Brakus

A group of children after practicing the Saman Dance in Agusen Village, Gayo Lues Regency, Indonesia (Photo By Kharul Abdi)

The Covid-19 pandemic poses a grave health threat to indigenous people around the world – and with the virus spreading into remote territories of the Amazon, it shows no signs of abating.

If Not Us Then Who, an NGO dedicated to helping these communities, is working harder than ever to bring their plight to a wider audience. “Indigenous communities are in a constant fight to protect their ancestral land and the forests with which they have a deep knowledge and empathy,” says a representative for the charity. “They see themselves as the guardians of the forest and the protectors of these vital ecosystems.”

As the situation in Brazil worsens and it becomes more difficult to record the cases of those affected by Covid-19, the charity has become increasingly aware of the need to raise further funds to support the indigenous communities around the world. Gathering indigenous artists and photographers who have long worked with indigenous people, If Not Us Then Who have arranged a sale of stunning prints, the proceeds of which will all go directly to supporting neglected communities who urgently need help.

[See more: Nobody to call: the plight of indigenous suicide in Alaska]

“To us, the land is our mother, the forest is our father and the water is our blood; they give us everything that we need,” says Kynan Tegear, 15, a photographer and filmmaker from the Sungai Utik in Borneo. “For this reason, we need to do everything that we can to save it.”

As the Kofan leader from Ecuador recently wrote, “This pandemic is an opportunity to reflect and grow a deeper understanding and connection to life, to each other, to Mother Earth herself.”

The Prints for Communities sale opened on 22 June and ends 22 July. To see a wider selection, donate and read more about the project, go to www.prints.ifnotusthenwho.me/

“Look Out” by Joel Redman
Quilombola community, Atlantic rainforest, south-east Brazil