File:Joenia Wapixana Brazilian lawyer.jpg

English: Joenia Wapixana grew up in two worlds: the Brazilian city where her mother relocated eight children so they could get a good education and the remote Amazon village where her father taught her to respect the traditional culture of her people. Joenia is also a woman of firsts. The first indigenous woman to graduate law school in Brazil. The first to argue a case before her country’s Supreme Court. Her legal prowess has ensured that thousands of indigenous people can remain on their ancestral lands. “Taking care of the rainforest is important not only because of what it means for indigenous peoples,” she says, “but also – given climate change – for the planet.” www.inclusivesecurity.org/17-women-changing-world/