From Hollywood to the Amazon: Q’orianka joins Peruvian protestors
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What many viewers probably didn’t realize is that Q’orianka’s affinity for native peoples is more than simply a screen affectation. Born in Germany, the 19-year-old American actress is half Peruvian Indian on her father’s side, of Quechua/Huachipaeri descent.
She also has political activism in her DNA, as the daughter of human rights worker Saskia Kilcher, and Q’orianka has worked on behalf of Amnesty International, among other causes. Earlier this month she received a Young Hollywood award for her human rights work, which she dedicated to AIDESEP, a leading Peruvian indigenous rights organization, and to its president, Alberto Pizango, who is currently living in the Nicaraguan Embassy in Lima after being granted asylum by the Nicaraguan government. She also dedicated the award to the thousand of Peruvians taking part in the protests in the Amazonian province of Bagua in northern Peru.
Late last week, Q’orianka and her mother flew to Peru, which in recent days has been the scene of violent clashes between police and Amazon indigenous groups, who are protesting the turning over of tribal lands to oil drilling, logging and mining. The clashes have left more than 30 people dead and brought severe criticism of President Alan García, who is pushing to open the Amazon for commercial development, over his government’s handling of the affair. Under domestic and international pressure, last week Peru’s Congress suspended the pro-development decrees that sparked the protests, but the situation is far from resolved.
La Plaza spoke with Q’orianka last Wednesday at her Culver City studio, before she left for Peru, about her impending trip and what she hoped to accomplish there. Here’s another report on the situation in Peru and Q’orianka’s activities that aired on the program ‘Democracy Now!’
-- Reed Johnson in Los Angeles