Remembering the teachings from our ancestors and elders
I understood that the earth on which we walk
is a living being. Every day it also gives us life
There are several words in Kamenstá that have profound meanings
and explain the universal relation of all living beings
For example, there is a beautiful word that is "Ainean"
That translated to Spanish it means Heart
but there is also the word "Ayênan"
that means the smallest particle and the beginning of every process
or of any kind of matter. It's the smallest space
that exists in the universe and jumpstarts life
The territory for us, for example
does not represents capital
or an economic asset, it represents a mother
where everything exists
I believe that we started to claim private property
among ourselves and inside our reserves
because it is the way to protect and defend ourselves
but we manage a general vision that is collective
The white man is rushing and his culture demands it
in such a way that capital accumulation is above the principles of life
he forgets that his, is a fleeting presence
and for us, for example, flooding this land or having to move our families
the near the highway or to Bogota
No, we wouldn't have a connection with the earth anymore
because that is raison d'être of indigenous people
our spiritual connection is in and with the territory
each one's placentas are here [in our Territory]
therefore it has a different value another interpretation
to remove indigenous people from theri territory
is like taking fish out of the water
The wayfarers that have taught us how to understand
the earth on which we walk
have taught us that the territory is made of all of us
here we speak of the colour of the sun and the clouds
of the colour of the mountains and the colour of the skies
we speak about the elements that enrich us all from the inside
and that inside us there is something even more special than El Dorado
that is our spirituality and the connection
from this plane of reality to others that we as Kamenstás can perceive
El Dorad that was sought after by people back in the days was physical
And somehow they were searching for it to obtain wealth
but only material wealth which can lead to conflicts and to wars
that dive humans and nature
We always say that if our little brothers [Colonos / White men]
Had not arrived, we wouldn't have had the need to learn Spanish
But it becomes necessary in order to defend the territory
And as long as the white man invents we also need to domesticate him
and his invention in order defend the territory and our culture
It would be ideal if we didn't need that
so yes there is a contradiction. [Natives] oppose extractivism
while ther use cars, have cell phones and cameras
but also, we are the ones left with the responsibility to protect the territory
but of course, we would be much better if they had not arrived
Our ancestors made clear which path to follow
their way of life was simply to conserve what is already there
what other human groups do is to abruptly transform and disrupt natural cycles
And that makes us all humans a bit groggy so we get lost and divided
our thoughts separate and become scatter
and then we lack a common process to make sure our planet
and fellow humans can last for a lot longer
this road runs across the Kamenstá reserve, which we managed to extend
but the road runs over an ancestral path. It has been retraced but not
to serve ancestral cultural, medicinal, and spiritual exchanges
but with only commercial purposes in mind
while over there, they benefit from the extraction of resources here
it unsettles balance and make us uncomfortable here
this is what I understand about what goes on in this context
this path has spiritual relevance for the Kamenstá and Inga community
because across millennia it has been a contact zone
between the mountains and the Amazon
these are trails that have been protected for millennia
our elders have conserve and walked it
they have discovered so many healing properties, foods, animals
they have found a way to communicate with the mountain and nature
this path means a lot for my culture. it means that we have a space
reserved for future new generations
because past, present and future generations not only inhabit a terrain
but we all live on a path that we must preserved to adjust to the future
What our ancestors taught us through this path is to preserve in order to
have a good relation between the families in the mountains and in the lower Amazon
According to the stories from so long ago
the process of searching still goes on
but it's not a search for El Dorado as it was before but instead
there is a palpable Dorado that is bigger and is worth more
than the one imagined by the expeditions
biodiversity, water, human talents, and all the oxygen and clean air
that comes out of this great territory
the biological resources, as a hole make this something else than a single Dorado
today, the ambition of big corporations is to come after all this wealth