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Heart of the World
Kogi, Wiwa, Arhuaco peoples of Colombia's Sierra Nevada region believe that the sacred mountain Gonavindua peak is the Heart of the World. These indigenous peoples are concerned with the environmental degradation of not only their homeland but the survival of the entire planet.
Date: 1/25/2009 2:44:34 PM ( 15 y ) ... viewed 2947 times KOGI, ARHUACO, WIWA PEOPLES OF THE SIERRA NEVADA
"The Gonawindua Tayrona Organization was founded on January 21, 1987 by the Kogi, Arhuaco, and Wiwa peoples of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta...The reason for establishing a representative institution, something new for our culture, was defined by the spiritual authorities (Mamas, Mamos) who were conscious of the need to enter into formal relations of mutual respect with the outside world in order to better defend our ancestral territory and to safeguard our cultural identity... The name Gonawindua refers to the most important peak of the Sierra Nevada. At the moment when the spiritual world moved into the material world, this peak was the first to appear, so that we would always remember what we had to learn and to do. Gonawindua is like the skeleton of the human body without which nothing can sustain itself, nor enter into movement; it is the center that harmonizes and makes everything possible. Gonawindua is where wisdom, the force and meaning of the physical world, and the meaning of our responsibilities, are kept and codified.
The name Tayrona refers to the Father of Nature on the spiritual plane, and also refers to the origen of the peoples of the Sierra Nevada. The Tayrona made up the great civilization that inhabited the Sierra Nevada until the Spanish Conquest destroyed its cities and looted its riches and its sacred objects.
Website: http://www.tairona.org/
TAYRONA CREATION BELIEFS/ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION
"In the beginning everthing was aluna (ánugwe), everything was in Sén (Sé), every element in the world has its origen in this Law. We, the People of the Sierra Nevada - Kogi, Wiwa, and Arhuaco - fulfill a mission, a mission to understand and care for the Law, the spritiual Law which makes the material world possible. The universe maintains itself in permanent relation with the Law that is at its origen. Our thoughts and our actions have to be in harmony with this Law and that is why we understand that the world depends on us. Our Mamas (Mamos) have transmitted this knowledge from century to century, they have taught us to meditate and reflect on what is good and what is bad for the world. The different moments that mark our lives - birth, initiation, marriage and death- are strictly related with the vital mission of maintaining the universe in balance.
The world began when Serankwa (Seyankwa) crossed two cotton strings. The four points of the strings signify the four cardinal points as well as the four peoples who guard the Sierra nevada and the world. (Historically there are four traditional peoples of the Sierra Nevada, the fourth being the Kamkuanos. But, sadly, due to the impact of religious and cultural imposition by the Catholic and evangelical churches over the last century, the Kamkuanos have lost much of their cultural identity, their language and their knowledge of the Law. The Kamkuanos are today struggling to regain what is lost.)
In the center of the cross formed by the two cotton strings, the Gonavindua peak was formed, stone was formed, which serves as the spindle, or axis, that gives structure to the planet. It is for this reason that we consider the Sierra Nevada to be the Heart of the World.
When we see the ecological destruction that has taken place on the Sierra Nevada, the felling of primary forests, the sedimentation of the rivers, and, above all, the disappearance fo the snows on the high peaks, we are worried not only for our own survival, but for that of the entire planet. When our Mamas (Mamos) do not have access to the Sacred Sites to make the payments that the Law of Origen requires, the world itself enters into disequilibrium." http://www.tairona.org/pueblos-en.html
PHOTO GALLERY: "All photographs on this website were taken by the members of the Indigenous Media Project of the Gonwindua Tayrona Organization. The Indigenous Media Project was founded in 2003 with the purpose of training a group of nine indigenous volunteers- Kogi, Wiwa and Arhuaco - in the practice of audio-visual documentation, so that the indigenous community itself can produce and own their own audio- visual documentation." http://www.tairona.org/galeria-en.html
RELATED BLOG:
Keepers of the World http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=1337229
RELATED LINKS:
Nature Conservancy
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/southamerica/colombia/work/art5303.html
Discover what the Nature Conservancy is doing to protect the environment of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
United Nations Press Briefing on Colombia
http://www.un.org/news/briefings/docs/2004/OCHABrf.doc.htm
Learn more about human rights issues in Colombia.
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