Showing posts with label films. Show all posts
Showing posts with label films. Show all posts

Saturday 27 June 2020

Covid-19 and the danger to the Navajo, the Kogi and all indigenous peoples

The plight of the Navajo Nation in the Covid-19 pandemic


Did you know that the Navajo Nation is the hardest hit community in the U.S. when it comes to the pandemic? The news is full of reports about what is being done about the Covid-19 virus in countries around the world but nowhere near enough coverage has been given to how the indigenous people have been coping with the danger from the Coronavirus. The Navajo Nation, who are the second largest tribe in North America, have reinstated lockdowns because the tribal leaders have feared the spread of the virus after suffering the highest death toll than any American state. They fear that people carrying the Coronavirus from the neighbouring states of Utah and Arizona will bring it into the Navajo territory, either directly or via contact. But complicating matters to a very serious degree is the fact that the Navajo are dependent on grocery stores outside their land for food and basic supplies. This means they must risk infection. Tragically this is the consequence of many years of destruction of their original way of life and the attempted assimilation of the Navajo into the global ‘civilised’ way of life.
Navajo Nation - Covid-19 claims whole families
This has happened over and over and over again through the centuries to indigenous people worldwide. Their traditional ways of supporting themselves with food, water, and other needs they once were able to find in their local areas, and without causing any environmental damage, have been destroyed by the invasion and colonisation of their homelands, together with the destruction of indigenous culture. You may think this was all in the past but it continues today in various ways, such as use of or pollution of water sources by industry or mining, logging and general deforestation, and being pushed into barren areas where it is difficult to grow food. Indigenous people have been terribly weakened by this ongoing assault on their ways of life. Not only that but most indigenous people have immune systems that do not fend off virus attacks well.
Kogi Guardians of the Planet appeal for help
The Kogi people from Colombia in South America were featured on a BBC documentary back in 1990. It was entitled From The Heart of the World: The Elder Brothers’ Warning. It showed the Mamas or Mamos spiritual leaders of this tribe, who are the surviving descendents of the ancient Tairona people, and who live high on the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. At the time of the Spanish invasion long ago these people retreated to the high mountain areas and for many years shunned all contact with the outside world. By doing this they have maintained their ancient belief system and culture. They believe that they really are the Elder Brothers and that they were given sacred work to do as Guardians of the Earth. They regard their mountain home as the Heart of the World. By the way, the word mama or mamo means “enlightened one,” and these people certainly have an ancient wisdom. The mountain they live on has examples of every habitat and microclimate for the rest of the world, so is like a microcosm of the planet. The Mamos are able to tell by looking at signs in the ecosystem there what it is like elsewhere and what can be expected in future. Now the “Younger Brother,” who make up the rest of the world of civilised people, in the Kogi belief system, were long ago sent away across the ocean and given knowledge of machines. Sadly they returned in the form of Spanish invaders bringing with them guns, death and destruction. For this reason the Kogi kept themselves to themselves until 1990 when the Mamos were so alarmed by what they could see happening that they broke their silence and agreed to talk to the Younger Brother to give a warning. This is why they allowed Alan Ereira, who directed the documentary, to visit them to make the film. So let us take a look at their warning message. This is part of what was said: "The Great Mother gave us what we needed to live and her teaching has not been forgotten right up to this day. We all still live by it. But now they are taking out the Mother's heart, they are digging up the ground and cutting out her liver and her guts. The Mother is being cut to pieces and stripped of everything. From their first landing they have been doing this. The Great Mother too has a mouth, eyes, and ears. They are cutting out her eyes and ears. If we lost an eye we would be sad. So the Mother too is sad, and she'll end, and the world ends if you do not stop digging and digging." (Click on the highlighted film title in the text above to read the rest of the transcript and to watch the documentary). 
What had really disturbed these people was the fact that the clouds and the snow and ice that should be on the peaks of their sacred mountain home had gone. The highland tundra was drying out and thawing and plants that grow there were dying. Without water coming from the mountains they know well that everything below will eventually die. In their warning they said that we, the Younger Brother, are destroying all natural order by mining, taking minerals and oil from the ground, deforestation, and other destructive ways, and that if we do not stop eventually the world will come to an end. They also warned that new illnesses would occur and that there would be no medicine or cure for them.
Ramon's speech in which he spells out the Kogi warning
It seems they were proved right because now we have the Covid-19 pandemic. Tragically the Kogi are victims of this disease that they predicted too. They have taken measures to isolate themselves but are desperately in need of food and supplies that have not been provided by the Colombian authorities. What if these people really are our Elder Brothers and the Guardians of Planet Earth? Shouldn’t we be listening to their warnings and shouldn’t we be helping them now?
Urgent Message From The Kogi During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Thursday 26 November 2015

Mamas from the Heart of the World - The Kogi

Who are the Kogi?

Perhaps you have never heard of the Kogi but if what these people say is true, then the future of this planet and our lives on it depends on their help. The Kogi are a mysterious tribe of people who live high on the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain in Columbia, and who believe they are the guardians and caretakers for the whole world. 

 The Kogi leaders are priests known as Mamas. Mama means "enlightened one." They believe that the mountain they live on is the "Heart of the World," and this was why the landmark BBC documentary made by Alan Ereira in 1990 was entitled From the Heart of the World: The Elder Brothers' Warning.


Indigenous Koguis Shaman at Ciudad Perdida (Photo: Uhkabu)

The Kogi are unique in having been able to preserve their culture intact and dating back before the Spanish Conquest 500 years ago. They are a surviving Pre-Colombian culture but they are in turn descendants of the Tairona culture that flourished before this. The Tairona were an advanced civilisation that built cities and pathways of stone in the jungles. These structures were built to last and have survived in good condition long after their builders had gone.


 Statue of the Tayronas in Santa Marta, Colombia (Photo: Public Domain)

The Elder Brother

The term "Elder Brother" is used by the Kogi to refer to themselves, while the rest of the world and the western civilisation they call the "Younger Brother." In their belief system the Younger Brother was sent away long ago, leaving the Kogi Mamas to do their work in caring for the world from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Kogi boys can be selected from birth to be trained for nine years to become Mamas. They are kept in semi-darkness in a cave for this time and attended only by their mothers and Mamas who care for them and teach them about their history and beliefs and about Aluna. Aluna is the "Great Mother" from which all life and all creation sprang. Aluna is the life force behind nature. 


Kogi village huts (Photo: Thomas Dahlberg)


The Kogi Mamas have a complete understanding of the ecosystem and can interpret signs from nature with precision. Their mountain home is like a microcosm of the rest of the world because it really does contain microclimates and varying habitats such as can be found elsewhere on the planet. There are highlands and tundra, there are cloud forests and jungles, there are rivers and lakes, there are desert areas and lowlands, there are coastal regions with mangrove forests and reefs. 

It is possible to predict the health of the planet elsewhere by interpreting how it is on the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. This is why the Mamas had become very worried. They had seen that all was not well high on the mountain where snow and ice were not forming as they should, presumably due to Climate Change acerbated by how humans are treating the environment and wasting natural resources. No snow and ice high in the mountains and no clouds meant no water for streams and rivers to form from rainfall and meltwater, so no water for down below and without water nothing can live. 


Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Photo: Public Domain)

The Kogi Mamas believe that because we are creating dams in the rivers, causing widespread deforestation, mining the land and mountains, polluting the seas, and otherwise destroying the environment and our home, that the world will come to an end, possibly as soon as in the next 50 years, unless we change course.

The Kogi tribe had kept itself away from the rest of the world until 1990 when the Mamas decided to break their silence in talking with Ereira and allowing him and his crew to film their secret homelands.


Kogi Warning


Sadly the Mamas have concluded that their message and warning to the Younger Brother was not heeded. This is why, 20 years later they decided to try another approach and have made a new film working with Ereira again. 

Aluna

Aluna is the title of the new movie made by the Kogi Mamas working again with Alan Ereira.  The Kogi are very frightened by the way the Younger Brother is continuing to destroy the natural world but know that we do not understand the forces we are unleashing.  They believe that unless we change course and listen to what they have to say then the world will end.

The Kogi could see that the Younger Brother failed to listen to their words and spoken warning in From The Heart of The World so in Aluna they are trying another way to communicate to us. They want to visually show us what they are talking about.

Julian Lennon


Julian Lennon in a Recent Picture (Photo: Julian Lennon)

Singer-songwriter, musician and photographer +Julian Lennon, who is a son of the former Beatle John Lennon, has been actively involved in supporting the Kogi and the campaign to get their message in Aluna widely heard. 


Julian Lennon's ALUNA Support Message

Julian says: "They have the answers. This is a warning that should not be ignored."

Tuesday 31 January 2012

Aluna the Movie | Homepage

The Kogi tribe from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain in Columbia were in a documentary made by Alan Ereira entitled From The Heart of the World. It was shown back in 1990 and the Kogi gave a warning to the world that ecological disaster would happen unless we changed our ways. They have made a follow-up film entitled Aluna which will be screened in 2012.

The Kogi call themselves the "Elder Brother" and the rest of the world they refer to as the "Younger Brother". They believe they are the spiritual guardians of the planet and that our ways have put it in danger of ecological disaster. The Younger Brother failed to listen to their warning. The Kogi Mamas, who are the spiritual leaders or shamans of the tribe, had warned that we must stop mining, cutting down forests, drilling in the ground, creating dams, and other developments that are destroying the environment, but their warning has not been heeded.

The Kogi Mamas are experts in determining the health of the ecosystem they live in, and not only where they are but for the whole world. They could see that Climate Change was robbing the mountain peaks of the snow and ice that should be there. Without the water that comes from the melting snow and from the rains that the clouds bring they know that all life will die.

The Kogi believe that the world will come to an end unless the Younger Brother changes his ways and soon. Because they are so worried about the state of the planet they have agreed to make this second film to explain their views about the extreme environmental danger that has been created.

Aluna the Movie | Homepage

Copyright © 2012 Steve Andrews. All Rights Reserved.