Andrea Isabel Ixchíu Hernández
Coordinator Hackeo Cultural
she, her
“I change stories and narratives about Indigenous people that reinforce harm, because when communities change their stories they change their lives.”
Andrea Ixchíu Hernández is a Maya K’iche’ woman, journalist, filmmaker and land protector. She is coordinator at Hackeo Cultural, an initiative and community communication methodology for the construction of collective narratives for the defense of Indigenous territory. She has served as an Indigenous community government authority in Totonicapán, Guatemala, taking on responsibilities to better her community. Andrea is a 2014 Nobel Women’s Fellow, 2016 Sakharov Fellow, and 2020 Bertha Fellow. She develops communication strategies, narratives and technologies for the defense of life and territory with Indigenous communities throughout Latin America.
Vision: The stories we tell and that are told give meaning to the world we live in. Working on narratives and community communication can change the stories that reproduce colonialism, patriarchy, capitalism and can honor the struggles of people working to build a better world. A change in communication fosters a change in narratives, which causes changes in thoughts and attitudes, which leads to sustainable cultural changes.