We Are from Abya Yala

We are Native people, we are descendants, we are roots. 

Native people of Abya Yala* who emigrate to the north of the continent are not illegal; we were from this land before Europeans arrived and divided our motherland into pieces. The United States was invented in our Native land. To expel and tell us that we do not belong here is the continuation of colonization and oppression acts. Do we need papers or permission to exist? We must return to where we came from? The United States is not white land, not European land. No matter how much they try to erase us from their maps, no matter how much they want us to forget the history of colonization and invasion. We are Native peoples of Abya Yala!

Now ICE/they are entering homes, schools, and stores—not just to remove “Latinos,” but to remove brown and black people. Since the government made us believe that our identity is Hispanic or Latino, they erased our native identity and roots. They wanted to benefit from Spanish colonization by creating the “mestizo cast system.” The Indigenous population suddenly became “Hispanic” or “Latino” just because the Spanish colonized us first and imposed their language? Our identity remains alive even if we do not say it loudly. Though inconvenient to some, our existence, skin color, spiritual practices, and ancestry remind us that we belong here. We are from Abya Yala!

That is why the United States desires to invent its own continent and claim North America is a separate landmass. No, that does not exist. We are one from Tierra del Fuego to Alaska. This is one motherland and one Abya Yala. Since when does building a wall create a new continent? Believing that was a mistake—giving them the power to rename everything was a mistake. We have always been one. We remain one, no matter what the owner of Google Maps or Trump thinks.We are from Abya Yala!

Even if they try to shackle us now and throw us to the other side of their wall, we are still here; our roots and ancestors are everywhere— all across Abya Yala.

This is the time for the people to awaken, to rise again! The resurrection of Native and Indigenous peoples is here, standing against those who wish to erase us from history.We are from Abya Yala!

It is crucial to acknowledge that Indigenous peoples are at risk of being displaced from their ancestral lands, not only in the United States but also in countries like Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, among others. This ongoing reality reflects a colonial mindset, wherein European settlers and their descendants have appropriated land and marginalized Native populations. Since 1492, Europeans have consistently resized territories and pushed Native communities to the periphery. We must continue to denounce this injustice repeatedly!

Colonization, No More!

Mass Deportation, No More!

Division of our Motherland, No More!

Decolonization is our act of Liberation!

We, the people of Abya Yala, will not be silenced!

* Abya Yala’s name comes from the Guna language and means “land in full maturity and land of vital blood.” The Guna people inhabit the north and south, geographically meeting points between Panama and Colombia. Abya Yala symbolically represents the connectivity of the lands. In the 1970s, the term Abya Yala was adopted by many Native activists, farmers, historians, politicians, and theologians as the unified name instead of using North America, English America, Latin America, or Hispano America, perpetuating Eurocentric and colonial divisions. (Delgado & Ramírez, 2022)