“Sarayaku is not only about struggle, it also has diversity”

The Reframed Stories Project asks people to respond to dominant themes and issues that appear in news coverage about their communities. These stories are reflections by people who are frequently represented by others in the media. Word clouds are created using the Media Cloud platform, a data analysis tool which examines a collection of media outlets over a specific period of time, allowing participants to analyze and discuss the preliminary insights into how they might be represented in the media. The project refrains from making conclusive pronouncements about the data, and instead is a starting point that creates space for discussion about how they can help shape their own media representation through digital media.

Ronny Avilés is a member of the Kichwa Peoples of Sarayaku located in Amazonian Region of Ecuador, and which has held long fights at a national and international level to stop extraction projects in their territory. The following is a transcript of the video of Ronny's comment of the word cloud for the term “Kawsak Sacha,” (Living Forest) which is a way of life to live together with nature.

Dominant words from 5 articles published between January 2017 and April 2018 mentioning “Kawsak Sacha” (Living Forest) within 3 Media Cloud collections of Ecuador’s Spanish-language media outlets. (view larger image)

Yo escogí la nube de palabras del Kawsak Sacha (Selva Viviente). Sarayaku no solo es de lucha, si no también tiene sus diversidades como la flora, la fauna, los espíritus protectores que están ubicados en las grandes lagunas, ríos, montañas y árboles. Eso es lo que Sarayaku tiene, eso es lo que queremos que aparezca en estas nubes de palabras.

I chose the word cloud of the word Kawsak Sacha (Living Forest). Sarayaku is not only about struggle, it also has diversity such as its flora, fauna, the spirits that protect us and that live in the big lagoons, rivers, mountains and trees. That’s what Sarayaku has, and that’s what we would like to appear in this word cloud.

This is part of a Rising Frames series developed as part of a workshop organized by the Communications Department of Sarayaku on May 17, 2018 that brought together youth members of the community to examine how they or issues they care about are represented in an Ecuadorian media collection. Following the discussion, they created stories in response to that representation. One of the workshop facilitators, José Santí participated earlier in the Reframed Stories Project and wrote his own story about the representation of Sarayaku.

Belén Febres-Cordero assisted with the proofreading and translation of the post, which was edited for clarity and length.

Start the conversation

Authors, please log in »

Guidelines

  • Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.