Leonardo DiCaprio advocates for the Amazon as he shares Waorani leader’s letter as he leads stars celebrating Indigenous People’s Day
Leonardo DiCaprio is one of many celebrities opting out of the traditional Columbus Day festivities once again this year for a more meaningful holiday.
The Academy Award winner advocated for saving the Amazon as he took to social media Monday for Indigenous People’s Day.
He shared a letter to Instagram, written by TIME 100 honoree and Waorani leader Nemonte Nenquimo, pleading for the protection of her people’s home in the Amazon rainforest.
Indigenous People’s Day: Leonardo DiCaprio, 45, advocated for saving the Amazon as he took to social media Monday for Indigenous People’s Day
Save the Amazon: He shared a letter to Instagram, written by TIME 100 honoree and Waorani leader Nemonte Nenquimo, pleading for the protection of her people’s home in the Amazon rainforest (pictured in February, 2020)
The 45-year-old posted a video of Nenquimo reciting her words, also linking back to the full letter on Amazon Frontlines.
He captioned the video: ‘Today, on #IndigenousPeoplesDay, I am sharing a very powerful letter by TIME 100 honoree & Indigenous leader @nemonte.nenquimo.
‘Nemonte’s message reminds us to listen to Indigenous peoples and their solutions so we can restore a healthy planet and find balance in our relationship with nature.
‘Her fierce commitment to saving the Amazon and building a movement to confront the industries and systems responsible for deforestation and climate change is exactly the kind of leadership the world needs right now.’
Using her platform: Demi Lovato, 28, also used her platform to share an Indigenous People’s Day tribute with her 93.1million Instagram followers
Facts and resources: She re-shared some memes, resources and facts about how Christopher Columbus enslaved indigenous people, urging people not to celebrate him
Choctaw family: The Sorry Not Sorry artist wrote: ‘My family have ancestors from the Choctaw tribe, and this means a lot. Thank you for sharing @alokvmenon! abolish columbus day, celebrate #indigenouspeoplesday’
Demi Lovato, 28, also used her platform to share an Indigenous People’s Day tribute with her 93.1million Instagram followers.
She re-shared some memes, resources and facts about how Christopher Columbus enslaved indigenous people, urging people not to celebrate him.
The Sorry Not Sorry artist wrote: ‘My family have ancestors from the Choctaw tribe, and this means a lot. Thank you for sharing @alokvmenon! abolish columbus day, celebrate #indigenouspeoplesday’
Calls-to-action: Kendrick Sampson, 32, shared several calls-to-action benefitting indigenous people, while promoting activists to follow on Instagram
Lifting voices: He shared one tweet from activist Melina Abdullah: ‘#ChristopherColumbus was a thief, a rapist, a sex trafficker, a pedophile, a colonizer, a murderer, and a crazed genocidal maniac…not to mention an idiot. F*** Columbus and the ship he rode in on’ (pictured in June, 2020)
Kendrick Sampson, 32, shared several calls-to-action benefitting indigenous people, while promoting activists to follow on Instagram.
He shared one tweet from activist Melina Abdullah, which was also re-posted by Rumer Willis, 32, on her Instagram Story.
It read: ‘#ChristopherColumbus was a thief, a rapist, a sex trafficker, a pedophile, a colonizer, a murderer, and a crazed genocidal maniac…not to mention an idiot. F*** Columbus and the ship he rode in on.’
Social reach: The tweet was also re-posted by Rumer Willis, 32, on her Instagram Story