Archive for the ‘Indigenous Wisdom’ Category
03/02/2012
The Mashco-Piro
Survival International Releases Photos Of Uncontacted Tribe
From: Andean Air Mail and Peruvian Times
Survival International, the London-based indigenous rights group, has released up-close pictures of a family of the uncontacted Mashco-Piro tribe, known to live in the Manu National Park in in the Amazonian basin in south-east Peru.
The Mashco-Piro are one of about 100 uncontacted tribes in the world, according to Survival. “Today’s photos are the most detailed sightings of uncontacted Indians ever recorded on camera,” Survival says.
Survival says sightings of the Mashco-Piro have increased in recent months. “Many blame illegal logging in and around the park and low flying helicopters from nearby oil and gas projects, for forcibly displacing the Indians from their forest homes,” Survival says.
“But the danger of contacting tribes who choose to remain isolated was reaffirmed by the recent death of an indigenous Matsigenka man,” Survival says. Nicolas “Shaco” Flores had left food and gifts for the Mashco-Piro for some 20 years. However, he was recently killed by one of the tribe’s arrows. “In this tragic incident, the Mashco-Piro have once again expressed their adamant desire to be left alone,” wrote Glenn Shepard, an anthropologist and friend of Flores.
Leave well enough alone
Shephard says in a post on his blog that the Mascho-Piro are likely descendants of the Mashcos people, who in the late 19th century were “massacred and displaced” by Peruvian rubber baron Carlos Fermin Fitzcarrald. “Surviving Mashcos, including a group speaking a language similar to Piro—hence ‘Mashco-Piro’—abandoned their gardens and fled to the forest, subsisting on game and fruits and vigorously avoiding all contact with outsiders since then,” explains Shephard.
“First contact is always dangerous and frequently fatal – both for the tribe and those attempting to contact them,” says Stephen Corry, Survival’s director. “The Indians’ wish to be left alone should be respected.” Anthropologist Beatriz Huertas says authorities need to implement preventative measures to avoid similar incidents in the future. “Contact could happen at any time,” Huertas was reported as saying.
More about this article here..
Tags:Amazonian basin, Glenn Shepard, indigenous rights, Manu National Park, Mashco Piro, Mountain Spirit Institute, Peru, Survival International, tribe
Posted in Indigenous Wisdom, Peru, South America, Sustainable Living/Communities | Leave a Comment »
23/01/2012
By: R. Richards
The wonder of a palm frond in the morning sun, nz.
I’ve often been thinking how having a child is like teaching an 18-yr Outward Bound course, for the parents. The bus arrives when the baby is born and it may leave when the teen turns 18, but maybe not. Of course, no one wants to hear the worn our phrase, “you learn through your children” but I’m reminded of the Kogi tribe (see the BBC film Elder Brother’s Warning) in the Colombian Sierra Nevada mountains who hide their shamans-in-training in a darkened hut, never seeing the light of day until their 18th birthday. Then, after years of preparation, after telling them what the world looks like, they see their world for themselves, for the first time with their own eyes. As the wonder of a baby, with new eyes, but with training, so they can see their world more clearly to do their shamanic work.
Seeing our baby boy look with glee at the morning sunrise, and the light shining through some palm leaves this morning is an eye opener. I felt “more aware” after I survived being tossed around in a van roll-over in 1988. “Everything looked new and pristine”, as Eckhart Tolle put it after his awakening experience. I felt like lucky to still be on the planet. That default feeling subsided after a few weeks, and now I have to work at being present by doing what I call “remembering my spiritual practice”. For me it’s meditating and listening to Eckhart Tolle’s Power of Now. Reminders can take almost any form as long as it helps
An Eye Catcher - Are you watching though?
bring one back to their center. In recent talks with newly elected Mountain Spirit Institute board member and mountain guide/instructor Ken Wyle, he’s been relating how writing his book on being buried in an avalanche which killed seven people, is a catharsis. Tolle says that people who are more conscious in their lives have usually had some tragic loss in their life that shook them out of the dream state we call normal life.
Our baby boy, laughing as he looks out the window of our van whizzing down main street in Kingston New Zealand, is a reminder to me – “What am I missing? I want to see like he sees!” The good news, it’s wholly possible. I’ve been seeing, more than dreaming during the last ten years. And it’s obivous when I’m not present. I might go a whole morning or day and realize I’ve not been present until something catches my eye, like a detail of a stem in a vase, or the bustle in supermarket, or of course, a sunset.
Learning to see and live in the moment sure beats the alternative, and I’m not going back. When you beat your head against a wall long enough, you finally decide you’ve had enough of that, and make the choice to stay in peace, no matter what happens. A side benefit of being at peace is your mind isn’t filled with crap, so you are free to see such things as the morning light shining through some palm fronds.
Images: R. Richards, taken this morning
Tags:Awareness, Echart Tolle, Learning to see, love, Meditation, Mountain Spirit Institute, Mountains, Open Hearted Listening, Shamanic Studies
Posted in Books, Experiential Education, Film/DVD, Indigenous Wisdom, Inner Work, New Zealand, Power of Place, Spiritual | Leave a Comment »
30/11/2011
Successful Gold Mining Protestor
Copper and gold mine project in Peru suspended in face of protests
LIMA, PERU, AND BOGOTA, COLOMBIA — Faced with increasingly violent local opposition, the developers of the giant Conga gold and copper mine in northern Peru suspended the project late Tuesday night, saying they were bowing to a demand from the government of President Ollanta Humala.
Much of the northern district of Cajamarca has been paralyzed the last six days by general strikes called by Conga opponents that closed businesses and schools. Residents were concerned that the massive gold and copper mine could pollute the region’s water supply, a charge the mine’s operators, led by Colorado-based Newmont Mining, strenuously denied.
The situation became more violent Tuesday, as protesters burned an office at the site of the proposed mine and clashes between protesters and police in the area left 17 injured and two arrested. Thousands of demonstrators massed in the central square of Cajamarca, the region’s largest city.
As proposed, Conga would be a giant open pit gold mine similar to the Yanacocha mine 20 miles to the north, which is also operated by Newmont. But it would include a copper mine and smelter.
Newmont has proposed investing $4 billion in the new project, which could produce between 580,000 and 680,000 ounces of gold a year. The government had projected it would receive royalties and taxes totaling $800 million annually once the mine was fully operational after 2014, income the left-leaning Humala government was counting on to finance social and infrastructure project. Read the rest of this story..
Tags:Cajamarca, Environment, Mountain Spirit Institute, President Ollanta Humala. Copper and gold mines, protect the environment, protests, protests successful, success, Suspend mining due to protests
Posted in Conservation, Environment, Fair Trade, Health, Indigenous Wisdom, Inspirational People, Leadership, Peru, Service, South America, Sustainable Living/Communities | Leave a Comment »
22/10/2011
The Mashco Piro Indigenous People
Gov’t Takes Measures to Protect the Uncontacted Mashco Piro People
By Andean Air Mail & PERUVIAN TIMES
Peru’s government has said they are taking measures to protect an uncontacted tribe located in the south-east Amazon rainforest, nonprofit organization Survival International said in a press release.
“Government authorities in Peru have responded to Survival’s call to protect uncontacted Indians who have recently appeared on riverbanks near a popular tourist destination,” the organization said Wednesday.
The Indians are believed to be from the Mashco-Piro tribe in the Manu area. Tourists who visit the nearby national park have recently been leaving clothes on the riverbanks to “entice the Indians out of the forest,” Survival said.
The group has sent warnings to outsiders to stay out of their area. They recently hit a park ranger with an arrow with the tip removed as a warning sign, Survival said. “Uncontacted Indians lack immunity, Read the rest of this story..
Tags:Amazon rainforest, indigenous peoples, Manu, Mashco Piro, Mountain Spirit Institute, Peruvian government, protection, Responsible Tourism, Survival International, Tourism, tribes
Posted in Indigenous Wisdom, Peru, South America, Sustainable Living/Communities | 1 Comment »
04/10/2011
Meditation in Las Cajas Range, Ecuador
A few days ago, our family started doing a daily meditation which was suggested by an invitation from Snatam Kaur. The meditation leads up to 11/11/11, when astrologically (and astronomically) speaking, we end the Piscean age and enter the Aquarian age. I thought I’d include this article below for one take on the changeover. There are other perspectives as well.
The Aquarian Sadhana: Last 40 Days until the Aquarian Age
By Ravi Hari Singh Khalsa
We are forty days away from the historic date of November 11th, 2011 (11-11-11).
I’ve spent a large part of the past year researching Yogi Bhajan’s teachings about the Aquarian Age in preparation for writing the book We are the Aquarians, Yogi Bhajan’s Vision of the Aquarian Age. Yogi Bhajan spoke about the date 11-11-2011 repeatedly as a critical milestone marking the end of the cusp period that started on 11-11-1992 and the beginning of the transition to the Age of Nanak, which he also referred to as the Age of the Shabad Guru, and which officially begins in 2038. You might think of the period from 1991 up to the present as being the time during which changes have happened mostly on the level of vibrational frequencies. (more…)
Tags:11/11/11, 2011, Aqe of Aquarius, Khalsa, mantra, Mountain Spirit Institute, November 11th, Patanjali, Snatam, Sntam Kaur, Wahe Guru, We Are the Aquarians, Yogi Bhajan
Posted in Indigenous Wisdom, Spiritual | Leave a Comment »
09/09/2011
Humala at Bagua Convention
Humala Signs Prior Consultation Law During Jungle Ceremony
by Andean Air Mail & PERUVIAN TIMES
President Ollanta Humala enacted the prior consultation law on Tuesday during a ceremony in the north jungle town of Bagua.
The bill was unanimously approved by Congress and has been strongly supported by international and national rights organizations. It is intended to ensure that Peru’s local laws are in compliance with the International Labour Organization’s Convention 169.
The convention requires the State to consult indigenous people prior to adopting administrative and legislative measures, as well as investment projects and development plans, that could affect their communities.
“This law has the objective of [promoting] development for native peoples, of the Amazonian communities and the entire region,” Humala said. “That is the spirit of this law.”
“Today we have taken an important step in the construction of a nation, the construction of a republic,” Humala added.
Ex-President Alan Garcia rejected a similar prior consultation bill during his recent term, expressing worries that the legislation would provide veto powers to indigenous communities that could deter mining and energy projects.
Humala and members of his Gana Peru party have said the new law will help address the more than 200 social conflicts in Peru that have impacted projects in the extractive industries.
The president’s signing of the law in Bagua was a clear sign Read the rest of this post…
Tags:Amazon, Congress, Humala, indigenous rights, Mountain Spirit Instittue, Peru, Sustainable Communities
Posted in Indigenous Wisdom, Inspirational People, Leadership, Peru, South America, Sustainable Living/Communities | 1 Comment »
30/08/2011
The Mapuche are an indigenous people living in central Chile. Their cultural center is the town of Temuco. This film was voted the People’s Choice on Culture Unplugged. To view the
Voice of the Mapuche People
Tags:Chile, indigenous rights, Indigenous wisdom, Mapuche, Mountain Spirit Institute, South America, Temuco
Posted in Environment, Health, Holistic Living, Indigenous Wisdom, South America, Spiritual, Sustainable Living/Communities | Leave a Comment »
15/08/2011
The surge in the price of gold brings wealth and unrest to Peru.
From Reuters: Katharine Jackson reports
Click Image to see Reuters Video
Also see our earlier post on Barrack Mines in Huaraz, Peru.
Tags:Gold mining, Mountain Spirit Institute, Open Pit Mining, Peru, Problems with mining gold, unrest
Posted in Conservation, Environment, Fair Trade, Indigenous Wisdom, Peru, Room For Improvement, South America | Leave a Comment »
03/08/2011
Peru's Enviro Minsiter Sr. Giesecke
Environment Minister says tackling social conflicts is “urgent”.
From Andean AirMail & Peruvian Times
Peru’s Environment Minister Ricardo Giesecke said Monday that tackling social conflicts in the country will be an “urgent” task in his portfolio, state news agency Andina reported. Social conflicts sky-rocketed during the Alan Garcia’s administration.
When Garcia took office in 2006, Peru’s ombudsman – the Defensoria del Pueblo – reported about 80 social conflicts in the country. Towards the end of his term, which wrapped up last Thursday, there were over 200 social conflicts, of which an overwhelming number are related to socio-environmental issues in the extractive industries.
In addition to delaying projects and investments, the conflicts have cost numerous lives and cost millions of dollars in collateral damage Read the rest of this story…
Tags:Alan Garcia, Environment, Environment Minister Ricardo Giesecke, extractive industries, Gold mining, mines, Mountain Spirit Institute, Peru, social conflicts, socio-environmental issues
Posted in Conservation, Environment, Fair Trade, Indigenous Wisdom, Peru, South America, Sustainable Living/Communities | Leave a Comment »
02/07/2011
Machu Picchu, Maize and the Advantage of Backwardness
June 30, 2011 by Andean Air Mail & PERUVIAN TIMES
By Nicholas Asheshov
Special for the Machu Picchu Centennial –
Maize
Machu Picchu and the Inca Empire were the creation of an import from Central America, maize, and a dramatic climate shift that turned the Andean highlands from inhospitable wet-and-cold to pleasant, as it is today, dry-and-warm.
For more than half a millenium before this shift the high Andes had been miserable. With the new dry-and-warm, starting around 1000 AD, a backwoods tribe, the Incas, put together the new climate and technology breakthroughs and by 1500AD had produced the world’s most go-ahead empire, heavily populated and larger, richer, healthier and better organized than Ming Dynasty China and the Ottoman Empire, its nearest contemporaries. Read the rest of this story…
Tags:Corn, Inca, Indiginous wisdom, Maize, Mountain Spirit Institute, Peru, South America
Posted in Conservation, Environment, Indigenous Wisdom, Peru, South America, Sustainable Living/Communities | Leave a Comment »
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cindy heath
Amanda Richards
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