In light of the evidence presented in this film, the case against the continued extraction and refining of fossil fuels is very persuasive. With stark photos of the Tar Fields in Alberta, Canada, to the contaminated soil and water left from oil drilling in Peru, the film illustrates how indigenous peoples are affected by the vast oil industry. Directors Clement Guerra and Sophia Guerra also reveal the impact that indigenous people have when they band together to fight for a cause.
Featuring native environmental leaders from Canada to Peru, The Condor and the Eagle symbolizes the uniting of indigenous peoples in North and South America to send a common message about the harms caused by fossil fuels. With climate change, all individuals will eventually be impacted.
From Houston, Bryan Parras leads the Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services and documents the impacts from hurricanes such as Katrina that resulted in high levels of benzene. Parras points out the health risks to children where indigenous people live next door to the Valero Refinery in eastern Houston.
In Oklahoma, Ponca Nation activist Casey Camp-Horinek laments there is one funeral a week from cancer, as the native people live near the Ponca City Refinery. Opposed to the Keystone XL Pipeline, Casey states the pipes are fifty feet long with joints at each end. With earthquakes occurring along the pipeline route, there are dangers of oil leakage. Since the pipeline goes over and under rivers, there are risks for water contamination.
In Canada, at the origin of the various pipelines, the Tar Sands occupy as much land as England and Wales. With cyanide, mercury, and lead in the area, this extreme open extraction site is next to the Cree nation; Cree leader Melina Laboucan-Massimo describes the fight by native people, farmers, and ranchers to prevent the pipeline from advancing south. Leaders erect a Totem Pole to signify healing the earth and to tell the corporations to stop hurting the people.
Bryan travels north to meet Melina and other leaders; together they decide to travel to South America to begin an effort to unite indigenous people against the fossil fuel industry. Traveling to the Tigre River in Peru, Yasuni National Park, and Sarayaco, Ecuador, the North American team meet indigenous environmental leaders and lawyers facing similar issues. These leaders come together to speak before the Climate Summit and also march in New York City, and Washington, D.C.
From Ecuador, Kichwa leader Patricia Gualinga is especially articulate. Ponca leader Casey Camp-Horinek hosts a formal signing of indigenous women on climate change and begins to draft a “Rights of Nature” to share knowledge of indigenous thinking with the rest of mankind. With outstanding photography, this film is appropriate for environmental science and other classes. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P.