Oscar Winners Receive Alternative Statue in Protest Against Illegal Extraction of Gold

The Yanomami are the largest indigenous group in the Amazon rainforest, and they have an alternative version of the Oscar statuette. Without using gold as a raw material, the object is shaped like the deity Omama and will be sent to the winners of the world’s most renowned movie awards. The idea was developed by the Brazilian agency DM9 and it is meant to draw global attention to the humanitarian crisis of the indigenous people caused by illegal gold extraction.

Before the winners receive the statuette, twenty of the main Oscar nominees will receive a video message via social media from Junior Hekurari Yanomami, leader of the Urihi Associação Yanomami. The receiving stars include Angela Bassett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kerry Condon, Stephanie Hsu, Hong Chau, Brendan Gleeson, Judd Hirsch, Brian Tyree Henry, Barry Keoghan, Ke Huy Quan, Brendan Fraser, Colin Farrell, Austin Butler, Bill Nighy, Paul Mescal, Andrea Riseborough, Cate Blanchett, Michelle Williams, Ana de Armas, and Michelle Yeoh.

The action will also direct artists and the audience to a digital calculator that shows the social and natural impact each gram of illegal gold has on the Amazon Rainforest and the Yanomami people. “In your culture, gold means success. For my people, for the forest and the creatures that still remain in the Amazon, it means death and destruction”, says Junior.

In 2021, 54% of the gold traded in Brazil had evidence of illegal origin. In recent years, illegal exploitation intensified in the Yanomami Indigenous lands, leading to mercury contamination of rivers and fish, deforestation, and a strong social impact on the indigenous population, which has led to a humanitarian tragedy that was ignored by the authorities until recently. "All participants in this award can and have already helped to shape the world's behaviour many times. They need to know the real cost of illegal gold and help spread this message, so that we can see change", the Yanomami leader adds.

To find out more about the project, visit here.