El Dorado 1543 - 2020 (Rough Cut)

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