Thursday, June 17, 2021, 6:30 pm PDT, online via Zoom

To attend, please RSVP. Send an email with the subject “June Zoom" to ColumbiaBasinBasketryGuild@gmail.com. Please put your full name and email address in the body of the message. We will email you a meeting invitation a few days before the event.

Néstor Walner Payaguaje Piaguaje

Walner comes from San Pablo de Kaatëtsiaya in the Amazon region of Ecuador. He is in the Paayohuajë Paai family, which in Sekoya means “people with painted or greasy faces.” 

Walner has learned how to make hammocks from his elders. 

Walner wants to save his culture, customs, and mother tongue because they are currently in danger of extinction due to pollution in the Siekopaai territories and current settler colonialism. The Sekoya culture is threatened because of the invasion that happened with the purpose of oil extraction. The rivers that they depend on day-to-day for food, washing clothes, and for drinking water, have been polluted.

Walner is learning how to preserve many of the old ways and believes, for example, that the older women can teach young women to make necklaces to sell for survival.

CBBG general meetings are for guild members. If you would like to attend as a one-time guest, please RSVP.