PARIS, France — A coalition of Indigenous leaders and activists from North and South America gathered at a press conference to present three key documents on climate change, urging world governments to include the rights of native communities in the text of the international treaty expected to come out of the U.N. Climate Summit in Paris.

The documents, proposed by Indigenous leaders from the Arctic to the Amazon on Sunday, included the first international treaty between Indigenous women of the Americas, a call for international recognition and protection of sacred territories, and a declaration cosigned by climate organizations that urges world leaders to keep fossil fuels in the ground.

Sunday's event began with powerful demonstrations on the water of the Bassin de la Villette, Paris' largest artificial lake, where a group of approximately 25 Indigenous activists took to canoes and kayaks adorned with flags representing cultures of the participating tribes. They played drums and chanted as they approached the shore, in a united show of support for climate action.

Indigenous groups arrive on the Bassin de la Villette in Paris on Dec. 6, 2015. Image: Matt Petronzio/Mashable

"People have come to Paris to discuss the solutions to climate change," Dallas Goldtooth (Dakota), campaign organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network, said at the event. "We have governments gathering, talking about solutions in Le Bourget, not aware that the solutions to climate change are right here."

As the first week of negotiations came to a close last Friday, disagreements flared between several countries over mentioning Indigenous peoples and "occupied territories" in the final treaty. As of Saturday, however, mentions of the "rights of indigenous peoples and the protection of Mother Earth" appear to have been reinserted.

Indigenous climate activists, who stress their communities are on the frontlines of climate impact, say there there's no way around it.

"The rights of Indigenous peoples must be acknowledged and respected in the legally binding text of the Paris agreement. That is nonnegotiable," Goldtooth said.

Indigenous leaders hold a press conference on climate action in Paris on Dec. 6, 2015.

Faith Gemmill-Fredson (Neets'aii Gwich'in, Pit River and Wintu), executive director of REDOIL, spoke about the effects of climate change on her community in Alaska, where their food and water security are under threat.

"Alaska is ground zero of climate change", Gemmill-Fredson said. "We still hunt and fish to provide for our needs ... The ground we walk on is literally melting beneath us. Whole communities are at threat of being climate refugees, as they are being forced to relocate."

She also spoke about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which the Gwich'in people call "the sacred place where life begins." President Obama has proposed to protect "the last great wilderness" of the United States from oil drilling, but Alaska Governor Bill Walker and others continue to argue that it would be economically beneficial.

"We're here to call upon the governments of the world ... for a full phase-out of fossil fuel development, and a moratorium," Gemmill-Fredson said. "Keep it in the ground. No more fossil fuel development. No REDDs. No false solutions ... We don't have the luxury of time."

The Keep It in the Ground declaration has been cosigned by more than 150 environmental organizations around the world, including 350.org, Amazon Watch, the Center for International Environmental Law and U.S. Climate Plan.

Posters protesting REDD+, a U.N. program that offers monetary rewards to extractive industries for not touching forests, but has many potential downsides for indigenous communities.

Earlier on Sunday morning, the Indigenous Women of the Americas signed the Indigenous Women of the Americas - Defenders of Mother Earth Treaty Compact 2015, which calls for action and acknowledges commitments to protect the Earth, while also outlining the struggles Indigenous peoples face.

"All the Indigenous women want our children to have a good life — not just Indigenous children, but all the children of the world," said Ena Santi, of the Sichwa community of the Sarayaku in Ecuador. "We have the strength of the mountains, and we are the descendants of the jaguars. We will fight this until the end for our children."

Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca), an activist and environmentalist who also signed this treaty, said her people in Oklahoma are currently suffering from "environmental genocide."

"The first onslaught of the settlers came with bayonets, with rifles, with smallpox blankets," she said. "But now they come with refineries, with fracking, with pipelines. They kill the air, they kill the earth, they kill the water — and that kills my people."

A banner across the Peniche Antipode barge restaurant in Paris, which reads "Indigenous Women of the Americas for the Defense of Mother Earth."

Felix Santi, president of the Sichwa community of the Sarayaku, discussed the Kawsak Sacha ("The Living Forest") proposal, in which "we declare that Indigenous peoples' territories are of vital and crucial importance for the future of the planet, and that our lands are sacred heritage of this world."

The proposal specifically aims to attain international recognition of Kawsak Sacha as a new legal category of protected area.

Santi's speech was followed by Brazil's renowned Kayapo chief Raoni Metuktire, best known as Chief Raoni, who has long been a vocal advocate for the preservation of both the Amazon rainforest and Indigenous culture. He spoke of all of humanity as family, and urged governments to stop violating native peoples' rights.

"These are the proposals that we carry with us to Paris," Chief Raoni said, referencing the three documents discussed at the press conference. "We do not want to die in silence. We want to be heard. We want to be heeded. It's in your best interest as well."