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
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