'Humanity Can Survive Environmental Disaster, But We Must Act Now'

The Kogi, an aboriginal people of Colombia, believe that they know how humanity can survive. The tribe that lives in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta warned the world, through a film, as early as twenty years ago of people destroying the earth. The film was a BBC documentary called From the Heart of the World that was directed by Alan Ereira and attracted a great deal of attention. The documentary was also shown at the UN conference on the environment in Rio de Janeiro. However, the thoughts of the tribe were soon forgotten. Now Ereira makes the concerns of the Kogi visible again, this time in an illustrative form: by showing the global destruction of the environment in miniature. The Kogi travel on the Columbian coast, showing how human actions have changed the cycle of Nature, led to extinction of animal species and affected our everyday lives.

A visit to Albuquerque
Albuquerque is honored to host the Teyuna mamos and zagas, spiritual leaders of the Arhuaco, Kankuamo, Kogii and Wiwi people of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region of Colombia. Known as Guardians of the World, they were featured in several documentaries, including Aluna, which can be viewed online (see trailer below).

For eons these indigenous peoples hardly ventured beyond their homeland. But, now they are concerned for the health of the planet and believe it is critical to speak to the industrial world about climate change and water. The group is touring particular water places in the United States to speak, to pray, to offer healing, and to beg us to act.

Here are details of the group's national tour. This includes a handful of events in Albuquerque.

• Sunday, August 12, Peace and Justice Center, 202 Harvard Dr. NE.  7:00 p,m
• Monday, August 13 First Congregational Church, 2801 Lomas Blvd NE  6:30 p.m. (Free will donations accepted for the first two events)
• Tuesday, August 14, Healings at  St. Thomas of Canterbury, 425 University Blvd. NE,  2:00-4:00 p.m.  (Donations of $50--$100 to $1,000. Contact Swami at 505-842-5697)

Here is the trailer to Aluna.