1 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:07,640 Speaker 1: Hey, this is Anny and Samantha and welcome to Stefan 2 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:09,119 Speaker 1: Never Told You production of iHeart Radio. 3 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 2: And y'all go ahead and put this again. I feel 4 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:23,480 Speaker 2: like we do this so much with this second, but 5 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:28,160 Speaker 2: specifically pronunciations, we're trying our best. We are speaking about 6 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 2: an indigenous Maori activist, so when it comes to the 7 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:34,919 Speaker 2: Maori language, we don't know it. 8 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:35,600 Speaker 1: Point point. 9 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 2: I definitely, definitely, definitely don't know it. So I did 10 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:42,600 Speaker 2: try and find the pronunciations. It's a little difficult. Some 11 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:45,239 Speaker 2: things were a lot easier to find than others. So 12 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 2: if you hear us struggling or trying, yes, yes, And 13 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 2: with that today we are talking about an Indigenous New 14 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 2: Zealander activist. Kira Shearwood Oregan. Shearwood Oregan is a disability, 15 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 2: climate and Indigenous rights activist. She has been vocal about 16 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 2: different issues and needs when it comes to climate change 17 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 2: and indigenous and disability issues. Again, she's one of those 18 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:12,759 Speaker 2: that is intersectional to the core and understands the depth 19 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 2: about how they overlap and why the needs need to 20 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:21,040 Speaker 2: be handled intersectionally. As a Maori woman from New Zealand, 21 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 2: she has always been conscious of the need to protect 22 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 2: the environment and the implications of the way the world 23 00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:28,639 Speaker 2: has been destroying it. Here's a bit from her blog, 24 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:32,480 Speaker 2: found at Kira o'reagan dot WordPress dot com. I hail 25 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:35,959 Speaker 2: from the beautiful Tewa Ponamu, the south island of Altaora, 26 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 2: New Zealand. In these days and based in the sunny 27 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:45,319 Speaker 2: Tamaki makura Auckland on Nati Vatua and Natipawa Land. I 28 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 2: am an interdisciplinary storyteller and change maker working at the 29 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 2: intersections of Indigenous and disability rights, hu aa or health 30 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 2: and climate change. Having lived experience of disability and a 31 00:01:56,360 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 2: diagnosis of fibromyologia, and growing up surrounded by empowering Maori 32 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 2: change makers, I am passionate about making social change movements 33 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 2: accessible and equitable for all. Alongside my partner, I am 34 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:11,399 Speaker 2: the co director of Social Impact and Creative agency Activate, 35 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 2: and am also the founder of Fabo Mahalja Altaura, New Zealand, 36 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,360 Speaker 2: a network providing support and advocacy for people living with 37 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 2: chronic pain conditions. 38 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 1: And because of her heritage, she learned early on what 39 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 1: it meant to be connected with the environment and how 40 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 1: important it was to respect the land. In an article 41 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 1: written for Colorado dot Edu. They say Shirid o'reagan was young, 42 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 1: her parents gathered the pito umbilical cord that had nurtured 43 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: her in the womb, and per tradition, buried it on 44 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,360 Speaker 1: sacred coastal grounds in te Waponamu, the South Island of 45 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: New Zealand, alongside the remains of her ancestors. Growing up 46 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:50,239 Speaker 1: in the Kaitau tribe, she learned early on to treat Airaqi, 47 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: the chiefly mountain of her people, and Wa Taki, their river, 48 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 1: with reverence. When she went fishing with her dad, he 49 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 1: would always throw the first catch back to Taco Roa, 50 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: the god of the oceans, to ensure the sustainability of 51 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: the fish stocks for future generations. 52 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 2: And the article continues. As climate change increasingly threatens the 53 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 2: environment and the people who depend upon it, Sherwood o'reagan 54 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 2: has taken that responsibility seriously, serving as a vocal advocate 55 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 2: not only for her fellow Maori, the indigenous people of 56 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 2: New Zealand, but also for the people with disabilities. Having 57 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 2: been diagnosed with a fobromologia in her twenties, she seeks 58 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:28,800 Speaker 2: to assure that indigenous people, people with disabilities, and people 59 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 2: like her at the difficult intersection of the two have 60 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 2: a voice at the table. That's critical, she said, because 61 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 2: they are at once uniquely affected and uniquely well suited 62 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:38,400 Speaker 2: to provide solutions. 63 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: She explains within the article quote, Indigenous and disabled people 64 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: have been organizing and innovating and creating novel solutions to 65 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 1: problems for generations because there has been no other option 66 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: for us. But only very recently have our views and 67 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: experiences been accepted as part of the mainstream climate conversation. 68 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:00,080 Speaker 2: And that's something she's highlighted throughout her career, the im 69 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,800 Speaker 2: hoardance of the intersectionalities of these movements. In an interview 70 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:06,880 Speaker 2: she did with culturalsurvival dot org, she goes into detail 71 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 2: about the subjects, saying, when we're talking about direct effects 72 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 2: of climate change on health, we're often thinking about things 73 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 2: like a climate disaster. If their floods, fires are coastal erosions, 74 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 2: and people are injured. Disabled people are left behind in 75 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:23,040 Speaker 2: those sorts of disaster responses, whether they're not being rescued, 76 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,520 Speaker 2: whether the government plans and responses are accessible for disabled 77 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:29,720 Speaker 2: people and for Indigenous people, or whether those communities are 78 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 2: even getting essential information. If that's not occurring in a 79 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:36,360 Speaker 2: language that you're comfortable with, or over communications that you're 80 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 2: comfortable with. If you're deaf and you can't hear sirens 81 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:41,719 Speaker 2: or warnings, or if you're blind and have low vision 82 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 2: and you're not getting all of that same input that's 83 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 2: prioritized towards people who are visual receivers of information. That 84 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 2: can leave a lot of people behind. 85 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: And she continues as the temperature rises. Obviously, that has 86 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,480 Speaker 1: some direct effects in terms of people's health. Heat stroke 87 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:57,680 Speaker 1: is a really big thing, particularly for a lot of 88 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:00,279 Speaker 1: our elders, and it can also contribute to other health 89 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: conditions like my fibromyalgia, migraines. We also have direct effects 90 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:08,520 Speaker 1: that come from pathogens like viruses and bacteria that cause 91 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 1: disease and sometimes longer term disabilities, as well as the 92 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 1: vectors that carry them. Those vectors might be things like 93 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: ticks or mosquitoes. As the climate is changing, the patterns 94 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:22,120 Speaker 1: of those pathogens and vectors are moving. A big thing 95 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:24,920 Speaker 1: for indigenous communities is also thinking about a lot of 96 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 1: the indirect effects of climate change, like eco anxiety. It 97 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:32,039 Speaker 1: affects a lot of people, but particularly indigenous communities. We 98 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 1: are losing our homes but we are also losing sites 99 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: that are spiritually or culturally significant, like on Arupa or cemeteries. 100 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 1: That is a huge amount of trauma that our people 101 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:46,359 Speaker 1: have to experience. Many island communities are also threatened with 102 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: rising sea levels and having to go to different countries 103 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:53,040 Speaker 1: and leave your cultural, historical and traditional home is a 104 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:55,039 Speaker 1: hugely traumatic process. 105 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 2: And with that, she has called out different organizations, including 106 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:01,359 Speaker 2: those at the COP twenty five, for their usage of 107 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,920 Speaker 2: tokenism during their ceremonies. Here's a bit from her Wikipedia 108 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:07,680 Speaker 2: page which she has one She said on behalf of 109 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 2: the International Indigenous People's Forum on Climate Change that quote, 110 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:13,920 Speaker 2: we are experts on climate We are the kate Tiaki, 111 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,039 Speaker 2: the stewards of nature. The Indigenous people have no official 112 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 2: representation as only nations have official delegates. At twenty five, 113 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:23,679 Speaker 2: she was promised that she could speak, and she addressed 114 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 2: the conference long after it was meant to finish. The 115 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 2: stall agreements had left many sleeping under tables and missing flights. 116 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 2: She got the media's attention when she told the delegates 117 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:35,719 Speaker 2: that the International Indigenous People's Forum on Climate Change wanted 118 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 2: them to quote stop taking up space with your false 119 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:41,599 Speaker 2: solutions and get out of our way, and there's actually 120 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 2: eclips of this, and she's not the only one who 121 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 2: speaks up, but she's one of the main ones. And 122 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 2: it is pretty fierce, like you could tell the anger 123 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 2: and the rightful anger that was happening, especially that they 124 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:55,800 Speaker 2: were being left behind. They wanted them to be paraded 125 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 2: as being inclusive, but they were not really including them 126 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:01,599 Speaker 2: or allowed them to be presented at the actual form. 127 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:03,560 Speaker 2: So if you have a chance, go look it up. 128 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, And she continues to be vocal about the needs 129 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: for disabled Indigenous leadership. She has seen some success and 130 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:15,320 Speaker 1: hope for the future in that regard. From a Cultural 131 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 1: Survival dot Org interview quote, one of the things that's 132 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 1: been really important is the solidarity between indigenous and disabled 133 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:25,960 Speaker 1: groups at the United Nations climate negotiations. I've been involved 134 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:29,640 Speaker 1: in an organization that my partner founded called Sustained Ability, 135 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:33,360 Speaker 1: which is a network of disabled people advocating for disability 136 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: rights in the context of climate change. One of our 137 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 1: core asks at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate 138 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:45,120 Speaker 1: Change is to establish a constituency for disabled people, because 139 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:49,280 Speaker 1: that's currently not in existence. The Indigenous People's Caucus and 140 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 1: International Indigenous People's Forum on Climate Change have been hugely 141 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:56,120 Speaker 1: supportive of the calls to action for disabled people to 142 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: have some space in those negotiations as well. They have 143 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 1: also got a lot of our calls for language that 144 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: respects disability rights as well as Indigenous rights, and have 145 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 1: supported our disabled Indigenous members to have a voice in 146 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 1: these spaces. That shows the strength of our community and 147 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 1: the strength of the Indigenous and the disabled rights movements. 148 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: How were actually the voices who most need to be 149 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 1: in the room and were the ones giving space and 150 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:25,920 Speaker 1: ensuring everyone who needs to be in the room is 151 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: right there alongside us. 152 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 2: Right And you know, we've talked about this so much 153 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 2: about the fact that it is those that are the 154 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:34,719 Speaker 2: most marginalized that should be the ones that are at 155 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 2: the head and at the helm of what is going 156 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 2: on because they understand the needs better than most and 157 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:44,120 Speaker 2: as in fact, they understand how exclusionary movements can be 158 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:49,360 Speaker 2: when they've become just singular in its ideals. We've seen 159 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:52,040 Speaker 2: them of the you know, the feminist movement in itself. 160 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:55,840 Speaker 2: So to end on to on this note, she has 161 00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:59,040 Speaker 2: become one of BBC's one hundred Women of twenty twenty 162 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:01,719 Speaker 2: three for her work work and climate change and indigenous 163 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 2: rights and disability rights, and I'm sure we're gonna hear 164 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 2: much more about her in the future. 165 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely, and listeners. As always, if you have any 166 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:16,360 Speaker 1: suggestions for this segment, please let us know. You can 167 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:19,120 Speaker 1: email us at Stephanie mom Stuff at iHeartMedia dot com. 168 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:20,920 Speaker 1: You can find us on Twitter at mom Stuff Podcasts, 169 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:23,240 Speaker 1: or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff I Never Told 170 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:25,360 Speaker 1: You for us on YouTube. We have a teap public 171 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 1: store and we have a book you can get wherever 172 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:29,000 Speaker 1: you get your books. Thanks to so's to you, our 173 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:32,160 Speaker 1: super producer Christina, our executive producer Maya, and our contributor Joey. 174 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 2: Thank you and thanks to you for. 175 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:36,439 Speaker 1: Listening Stuff I Never Told You. Use production of iHeartRadio 176 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:38,199 Speaker 1: For more podcasts or my heart Radio. 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