Meeting The Kogi Mamas
On 21st June 2012 while attending the Rio+20 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro we were amazed and surprised to discover Kogi Mamas on the lawn of the U.N Rio Centro complex.
They had left their homes and travelled to this Summit to impress upon everyone the extreme nature of the crisis we will face if we do not take the negative impact we are having on nature seriously and make some profound changes in our consciousness and lifestyles.
The Kogi are a genuine lost civilization hidden high up in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. They believe that they live in order to care for the world and to keep its natural order functioning. They believe it is their duty to look after the mountain, which they call ‘The Heart of the World’. They call themselves the Elder Brother and refer to the new- comers as the Younger Brother, who they believe are destroying the balance of the world.
In 1990 the Kogi decided they must speak out to the rest of the world. They had survived by keeping themselves isolated but they decided that it was time to send a message to the Younger Brother. They could see that something was wrong with their mountain, with the ‘Heart of the World’. The snows had stopped falling and the rivers were not so full. If their mountain was ill then the whole world was in trouble. So they emerged to work with Alan Ereira, making a 90-minute film for BBC1 in which they dramatically warned us of our need to change. Then they withdrew again.
“It is the mountains which make the waters, the rivers and the clouds. If the trees are felled they will not produce any more water. We do not cut down the trees that grow by rivers, we know that they protect the water. We do not cut down huge areas of forest like the Younger Brother does. “
This film had a stunning global impact, and is now probably the most celebrated film ever made about tribal people. It was repeated on BBC2 immediately after its first showing, and then in many other countries – some 30 times in the US last year. It helped shape the Rio Conference, it led to the King of Spain visiting the Kogi and to a transformation of the Colombian attitude towards these people. Today, each new Colombian President has to visit the mountain and seek their blessings.
The Kogi are profoundly frightened by what we are doing to the world. They believe that the only hope of survival for mankind is if we can learn why they are so scared. Hence they have summoned Alan Ereira back again to say that we have not actually listened to what they said. In the face of the approaching apocalypse, they have asked Alan Ereira to make a second film with them, which will take the audience on a perilous journey into the mysteries of their sacred places to change our understanding of reality. This is not a work of fiction.
ARE YOU READY TO BE PART OF THE CHANGE?
On the evening of the Summer Solstice (June 21st) a 20 minute extract from Aluna (the 2nd film) was presented at the Rio+20 Summit, Brazilian organising pavilion. We were so happy to have the chance to attend this event and to communicate with the Kogi directly. We were able to sincerely thank them for their great work and to urge all those present to really assimilate the message that they shared with us and to take the urgent action advised. We were also happy to see representatives of the Colombian Cancilleria (Foreign Ministry) and Environment Ministry in attendance.
Professor Alex Rogers, a leading ocean conservation scientist also spoke about the Kogi Mamas affirming that, the information that they gave was scientifically sound.
Considering how difficult it is to meet with the Kogi, this meeting would have seemed to be an impossible dream had we not experienced it directly. They are very much a major inspiration that has motivated the formation and the on going work of Active Remedy Ltd. As the years pass their words of deep understanding resound even clearer to us.
“Our message is not only for the people here, they are for people all over the World… You don’t have to abandon your lives but you must protect the rivers”
“If the Younger Brother keeps cutting down all the trees, there will be fires because the sun will heat the earth....
We are the Elder Brothers
so we have to think clearly....”