The Kogi of Colombia

Every so often,  in the deluge of demands made on your conscience by all the media you link  into, something comes along that particularly touches your heart. This morning when I should have been working hard I went on Facebook, procrastinating as usual when I've got too much to do, and picked up an item on Facebook, via film maker George Hencken, on the Kogi people of Colombia in South America. These people have managed to survive with their culture intact since the Spanish  invasion of their lands in the sixteenth century. By the way, they gave up gold to keep the Conquistadors off their backs!

But now the Kogi are threatened by battles between paramilitary forces and guerrillas in their homelands in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Villages have burnt down and many people have been made homeless.

I remember watching  BBC documentary on the Kogi a few years ago.It stuck in my mind [How many programmes do as they slide through our minds as we mindlessly gawp at the screen?] and every so often I find myself thinking about the Kogi and their view of  Western Civilisation which they  regard  as a destructive immature venture that is destroying our Mother, the Earth. They sent a warning through the programme that we 'the Younger Brothers' as they call us -they are 'the Elder Brothers'- need to change our ways to avert catastrophe. They are right of course.

It wasn't just their message that impressed me, it was their poise and dignity. They weren't restless, discontent and agitated as we are. They clearly displayed inner qualities that we lack and are therefore embody something of great value that we 'Younger Brothers' need to find and cultivate.

It is distressing to think that they and their wisdom is under threat.

More news will be turning up on this site:

 www.indigenousnativeamericans.com

Hockney Delight! And Spring.

Highlight of the week was a visit to the David Hockney exhibition at the Royal Academy. This is probably the best art exhibition I have ever been to. His exploration of the landscape of East Yorkshire was .. er.. inspiring ...sorry to employ such an overused word but it is exactly the right word for the context. It was inspiring because it made me want to rush home and be creative myself. It was inspiring because it presented a positive and realistic vision of the world that was such a nice contrast to all that dreary 'conceptual art' that imagines itself to be 'challenging' but is merely tedious.  It was inspiring because Hockney's use of colour was so outrageous and dynamic that I felt my eyeballs had been pierced by a multitude of psychedelic needles.

After spending two and half hours totally absorbed in the exhibition I staggered outside, exhilarated and exhausted, eager get home have a fresh look at our local woods and record the year's most dynamic event: the coming of Spring.


Spring charges in and before I realise it, I'm behind with my allotment work. Old Lol, on the next plot has already got lots of planting done. I can feel his sharp eye noting that I haven't got my weeds under control or finished my digging. Still I have plenty to pick: parsnips, broccoli, Spring cabbage, leeks, Japanese bunching onions, parsley, endive, kale, rocket, beet leaves, Green-in-Snow [Oriental mustard] and a variety of other bits and pieces. In the garden I've been picking ear fungus from some decaying elder logs I put in a damp shady corner last year. I'm experimenting with more fungi this year and hope to produce my own shit-ake  mushrooms. I mention all this because I'm proud of it and also want other people to appreciate the delights of growing food. It's part of our life style and I believe its where the future lies: we need to become high-tech  peasants if we are to survive and enjoy living on this planet.

Phil