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

Ocean Aid Concert

Ocean Aid Concert 2020

An Ocean Aid Concert is an idea I have had for several years and been trying to get off the ground. It would be a follow-on from Band Aid and Live Aid but this time would be focused on raising awareness about the threats to the oceans of the world, such as, plastic pollution, overfishing and acidification, all of which are taking a very heavy toll on marine life.

Of course, I would love to think that the day will arrive when many world famous acts would take part in a massive concert that would get televised and receive international publicity and coverage, but right now with the lockdown restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, most concerts this year and big festivals too, have all been cancelled. But not the online ones, where there is no risk of spreading or becoming infected with the disease. So, with the help of my good friend Paul Richmond aka Zest Radio Show, I have come up with an idea to get Ocean Aid Concert 2020 actually happening. If singer-songwriters, singers and bands have songs about the environment they would like to contribute, what I would need is a video of their song. Ideally the songs should have something to do with the oceans but songs about nature and the environment fit with this too. The idea is for me to create a Youtube playlist entitled Ocean Aid Concert and the videos would be included in it, giving everyone some publicity and raising the profile of the Ocean Aid campaign. 

At this stage it is all about getting this happening and raising awareness. Fund-raising would be part of a much bigger Ocean Aid Concert, and I have thought money could be raised for organisations that help the oceans and marine life, organisations, such as, Sea Shepherd, and Greenpeace, but all of this would be decided on a later date. 

Besides singers and musicians, the Ocean Aid Concert could also include videos of poets with their poems on the subject, readings of prose by writers who want to get involved, and videos of suitable artwork. The Ocean Aid Concert is not just music and song but all creative arts.

SPAM by Filippo Solibello, a Book about Plastic Pollution

Last year a book entitled SPAM - Stop Plastica a Mare was published in Italy. The author is Filippo Solibello, and he is a well-known radio host in his country. I am very proud to say there is a four-page chapter in this book with the title Where Does All The Plastic Go?, which is also the title of a protest song of mine.

The chapter is about me, my song and my ideas about the worldwide problem of plastic pollution. When Filippo interviewed me back in 2018 I told him about my idea for an Ocean Aid Concert and he asked if I minded if he spread the word in Italy. I said, no, not at all, because I just want to see this event happen and it doesn’t matter where! Well, since the publication of SPAM, the author had been touring Italy promoting his book and telling people about my idea. He was also showing videos of my song.

He managed to get a copy of his book to Pope Francis and received media coverage because of that. I was invited to go over to Italy at some point but then the Covid-19 pandemic struck and all plans had to be put on hold. This is why I am thinking we can get this Ocean Aid Concert going online. So please get in touch if you want to be included or can help in any way! Please also share this blog and let’s get Ocean Aid Concert happening! To make a start with this happening I have created an Ocean Aid Concert playlist at Youtube featuring any songs I thought fitted the bill. It includes a few big names, such as, Neil Young, Kate Nash, Jack Johnson and Ed Sheeran.

Habitat Destruction and the European Rabbit

The European Rabbit is in Danger!

European Rabbit (Photo: Steve Andrews)

There’s a strip of woodland and scrub five minutes from where I live, and nearly every day I connect with nature by walking through it. Although it has busy roads separating it from larger sections of the Portuguese countryside, and is near to houses, this parcel of land has a wonderful selection of wildflowers and of wildlife, including butterflies, birds, reptiles, and a colony of European Rabbits. At least, there was a rabbit warren there until recently. I have been watching an example of habitat destruction on my doorstep! A team of workmen, bulldozers and JCBs have ruined where the rabbits live, transforming it into something neat and tidy, a place that shows the human view of how things should be. It is no longer a world and a home for European Rabbits, at least I have not seen any since the men were there. Of course, I never could get close to any of the rabbits I would see on happier days, but just knowing they were there gave me a good feeling. A sense of contentment that all was well in a parcel of countryside, right by where I live. The sandy soil in this location is ideal for a rabbit to burrow in and trees and bushes, brambles and other vegetation, provide a place to hide away from walkers with dogs. The European Rabbit has many threats to its life to watch out for: natural predators and humans who hunt. Rabbit hunting is a tradition in many places. Men with guns and dogs get pleasure from this. These hunters would argue that it is a traditional way of providing food for their families and meat for the market. It is a serious threat to rabbit populations though, especially coupled with the devastating effects of the deadly Myxomatosis plague that was unleashed many years ago. The Rabbit Calcivirus has also contributed to the decline of this once very common mammal, which the International Union For Conservation Of Nature (IUCN) in 2018 classified as Endangered for the animal’s current Conservation Status. In Portugal, the Iberian Lynx, a species that is struggling for survival as well, depends on rabbit populations, because these once common mammals are its main prey. Efforts to help the Lynx return are doomed to failure unless rabbit numbers can be increased a lot as well. One form of life depends on another, as links in a food chain, and parts of the web of life.

After the work was done! (Photo: Steve Andrews)

But getting back to what has happened in the woodland near my home: over a period of about 10 days, the workmen levelled a large area of mixed grassland and scrub, they chopped down some pine and willow trees, cut down bushes, drastically thinned out and pruned back any clumps of saplings, and then bulldozed right through where the rabbits had their burrows, which was in a wooded area at the bottom of a slope. The men have constructed a wide channel here that runs in the direction of one of the bordering roads. I thought maybe they were going to lay a large pipeline of some description but this didn’t happen and they have ceased work. Perhaps the channel is intended as somewhere water can run because it does follow on from a stream higher up in the woodland.

They cleaned this part up too! (Photo: Steve Andrews)

Perhaps it is intended as a flood defence? As for the destruction of trees and bushes, that was probably land clearance as a defence against wildfires, which are now a serious threat in Portugal. Now the men have all gone and I am left wondering, is this because they completed their work or have they been laid off due to the ongoing CoronaVirus lockdown at time of writing? Whatever the answer is, it appears the rabbits have gone too. Did they manage to escape? Did they run away in time? If so, where have they gone? What does a European Rabbit do when evicted from its home? If they did escape they have been subjected to a terrifying experience for the whole colony. My daily pleasure of seeing rabbits has gone. Now when I walk in this bit of countryside I am on the lookout for signs the rabbits have survived. I am looking for new burrows, I am looking for piles of rabbit poo on paths, but so far I have seen none. It leaves me feeling sad and is yet one more example of habitat destruction I have witnessed. There have been many throughout my life, from ponds that are drained to become flowerbeds or levelled ground, to meadows that become housing developments.  Now here in Portugal, I feel like I have been watching a real-life chapter from Watership Down!

The Angel of Death

The Angel of Death

Angel of Death (Azrael) by Evelyn De Morgan (Public Domain)

It was in the not too distant future when the nightmare scenario devastated the western world, and led to the final collapse of life as we know it. A 100% lethal mutated virus had been spawned in the labs of insane scientists. There was no known cure for the Angel of Death, which spread by contact, as well as via the air and in water supplies. An even more insane subversive group within the ranks of the the evil germ-warfare-mongers had infiltrated to the highest echelons above top secret, and in a final doomsday effort had unleashed the killer virus upon an unsuspecting world. Death came to everyone infected with it within weeks, and there were no recorded cases of survival. 

Throughout the entire civilised world, throughout all the teeming cities, and even to the smaller towns and villages of the whole globe, the silence of the fatal germ had come. Only humans were infected, so once again the world of animals and plants had a chance, for it appeared that the reign of mankind was finally over for good.
Ten years had elapsed and the passage of time had brought many changes. In once Great Britain, the cities with all their accompanying industrial and urban sprawl had reverted back to a more natural environment that was gradually and not so gradually displacing what humans had created. Rooftop gardens of small trees, brambles, briars, and assorted weeds and grasses greeted the sky, and the hungry flocks of sparrows, starlings, pigeons and finches. Barn owls bred again in large numbers and circled the dark night skies, seeking out their choice from the teeming rodent hordes that had multiplied without check feeding on the vast quantities of stored foods in shops and warehouses.
Branches of trees poked skywards through crumbling and ruined buildings. Roads, streets, pedestrian precincts, shopping malls, and even the once mighty motorways lay cracked by the ever-advancing frontline troops of armies of the vegetable kingdom.  Grass grew waist-high in fields, parks and open spaces, and masses of wildflowers adorned these meadows providing a feast for the butterflies, bees and other pollinators. Mongrel dogs prowled and hunted in packs. Hawks and other birds of prey had a field day with all the vast numbers of small birds, and rats and mice, now to be hunted.
The seas and lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, and other waterways and wetlands had once again come into their own and teamed with fish and other aquatic life, which in turn supported huge breeding colonies of waders, herons, ducks, and other water birds. Massive patches of brambles, nettles, briars and assorted scrub in sprawling growth reclaimed the once cultivated and civilized land. Broken human skeletons lay covered or partially exposed to the elements, or rotting away in the empty rooms where they fell. Forests too were starting to reclaim the land in an effort to return to days gone by.  Foreign flora and fauna vied with natives for space in the battle for survival under the laws of Mother Nature.
In the rest of the world, the picture was much the same, and the land so devastated by mankind’s short and tyrannical reign of destruction was being fast taken back by natural forces as the balance became again restored to the Earth.
The end of mankind had not, however, arrived for small pockets of survivors continued to live in their ancient tribal ways in the mountains and jungles of South America, Asia, and deep in the rainforests of Africa. These tribes had survived, because although they were aware of the civilised world they had chosen to live in isolation from it, shunning all contact, and so preserving their ancient culture and traditions.
So the planet was once more open for colonization as those tribal peoples grew in numbers, and an almost Garden of Eden type situation presented itself with the ruined technological cities and factories of destruction still there to maybe be discovered like the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 
Only the tribal elders really understood the dangers that lay ahead, but as to whether they were able to prevent enquiring minds from prying into these secrets only time would tell. If the circle was to run its course, several thousand years more had to elapse, but for the time being all was well upon the Garden of Earth.

Footnote: I wrote this depressing story many years ago but had not done anything with it until now. I am hoping it remains just a story! With the Corona Virus or Covid 19 virus in the news, it seemed a good time to publish it though.