Geovanni Siquihua is a Kichwa Indigenous Leader from Sani, a Kichwa community located in Oil Block 15 in the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador. Sani community struck against the Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) to force its officials to sit at the table of negotiations in 2004, causing the transnational to pay better seismic compensation than initially offered to the community. After extraction proved unsuccessful in Sani, the community decided to resist further exploration and engage in alternatives to extraction. Currently, Sani protects 40,000 hectares of primary and secondary rainforest partially located in the Yasuni National Park.
Leader Siquihua is visiting Penn State to provide a complete account of how Kichwa communities in the Amazon resist and adapt to the expansion of the extractive frontier in sensible ecosystems. Geovanni will address his vision of Kichwa Indigenous Futurities that seek to engage with tourism, education, research, and entrepreneurship alternatives to replace the extraction of fossil fuels. He will discuss the role of academic institutions in supporting and collaborating with Kichwa’s efforts, laying out an agenda for cooperation.