Madison Womelsdorf

Indigenous Tribe: Mayangna Tribe

United Nations Speech
Hello people of the United Nations I am a member of the Mayangna
tribe, we are also referred to as the Sumo people but prefer Mayangna for
Sumo is a derogatory named historically used by the Miskito People. Also
another reason we prefer Mayangna is because that Sumo directly
translates to the word cowards. Our total population is approximately
15,000 people and we mostly reside in the dense rainforests along the
Atlantic coasts of Nicaragua and Honduras. We live primarily in remote
settlements on the rivers Coco, Waspuk, Pispis and Bocay in north-eastern
Nicaragua, as well as on the Patuca across the border in Honduras. The
Mayangna tribe are very isolated people which has allowed us to preserve
are language and traditions throughout the years. Many of our villages can
only be reached by boat ride or hiking and permission must be granted by
tribal authorities before entering any of our territories. Our religions consists
of animistic beliefs which is spiritual beliefs that souls or spirits exist not only
in humans but also in all other animals, plants, rocks, natural phenomena
such as thunder, geographic features such as mountains or rivers, and other
natural entities. We rely on protection from a Sukias, or known to you as a
witch doctor, which provides us protection against numerous evil spirits. Less
than 2% of our Mayangna population is Christian. A farmer is the major
occupation throughout our tribe which results in a less than wealthy lifestyle.
Many of our villages have no income and in all truth we are a very poor tribe.
With no source of income its very difficult for us to support our children let
alone a whole village. Many of our villages have no source of clean water and
if we do happen to have a water source its most likely contaminated. Clean
water would most likely not be an issue if not for these colonists who are
destroying our home and taking our land in terrifying numbers. Timber
traffickers, gold miners, farmers, cattle ranchers and land swindlers are

devouring the forest and destroying our ancestors in the process. Over the
past five years, some 11,500 Nicaraguan settlers have pillaged Central
Americas largest forest at the appalling rate of 200-280 acres per day and if
this rate continues, within 10 years our tribe will have nothing to call home.
This issue has not gone without bloodshed if I may add. It was only in 2013
when a group of Timber traffickers came across a Mayangna patrol and
opened fire which resulted in the death of our indigenous leader Charley
Taylor. Deforestation and invasion by outsiders of our territory is damaging
the balance of life in the forest that we have worked so hard to maintain. So
we please ask of you to slow down the deforestation so that as our children
grow older theyll have a place to call home.