Miguel Ángel Chaparro, of the Arhuaco people of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, became the first Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) Indigenous Fellow in 2018. During his months in the U.S., he engaged with both ACT and Organization of American States (OAS). Miguel received English tutoring while in the states, becoming the first indigenous graduate of Colombia’s Universidad del Externado with a Government and International Relations Degree. His senior monograph, An Indigenous Person within the OAS and the Inter-American Human Rights System, details his experience with OAS and ACT, and its contribution to his understanding of the role of traditional knowledge in policies regarding land rights of Colombia’s indigenous peoples. Since returning to his community, Miguel has continued working with ACT to support the legalization of land claims of the Arhuaco people. Additionally, he has worked to establish a medicinal and vegetable garden for Arhuaco elders to collect plants.
