July 20th is a Colombian national holiday that commemorates the "cry for independence." This year, as Colombia rolls drums for its bicentennial celebration, the indigenous peoples of Cauca turned the occasion into a gathering, a Minga, aimed at clearing military forces from sacred territories.
The site selected for this Minga was Tafxnú, where the Colombian army set up camp in February 2008. While a ritual was being held here, similar actions were taken by indigenous communities against FARC positions in the region.
Tafxnú (loosely translated from Nasa Yuwe, as House of the Sun) is where the Nasa traditionally held their most significant yearly ritual, the summer solstice celebration I described in a previous post. It is a high plateau with a privileged view. Tafxnú also happens to be where Cineminga began its work in Colombia, and where we started a modest community media center.
Cineminga's mission is to strengthen traditional cultures, our primary goal right now is to produce audio-visual materials that can be used in indigenous education programs. But it is impossible to do this work in Colombia without facing the brutality of the current armed conflict.
My short experience in Cauca gives a sense of how acute and the situation is.
Having been detained, tied up, and held at gunpoint by guerrilla fighters in my first week working in Tierradentro, in October of 2007, I had to drop everything and run one early morning four months later, as an army plane started bombing the area. Appeals from community leaders for the parties to engage in combat away from the village went unheard. A young man from the village died in crossed fire only days after I left.
In March of this year, I witnessed first hand how the entire community in Tafxnú was forced to leave its ancestral home. Troops had set up camp next to the spring from which the community drew its drinking water, and fecal matter started turning up in tested samples. Kids had started getting sick. Again, complaints were ignored and relief was never offered. Over 300 people had to dismantle their homes, and move elsewhere. These families are now being charged rent for the land where they have been living since, in a different reservation. They have unceremoniously joined Colombia's 3 to 5 million internally displaced.
The United Nations adopted a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007, which reads (in article 30, numeral 2), "States shall undertake effective consultations with the indigenous peoples concerned, through appropriate procedures and in particular through their representative institutions, prior to using their lands or territories for military activities."
The Colombian government abstained from voting to ratify this Declaration, and defends its right to send the army anywhere in the country in order to fight terrorism, with or without the consent of indigenous institutions. No one in Colombia ignores the difficult challenges faced by the administration, but indigenous peoples are paying a disproportionately high price in a conflict that cannot be solved by force alone.
A recent report by ONIC (National Indigenous Organization of Colombia) includes these figures:
Between January 1st, 1998 and June 30th, 2009, 19,490 (nineteen-thousand, four-hundred and ninety) indigenous individuals have been killed. The deaths are attributed to the different forces as follows:
Guerrillas: 7,976
Paramilitary groups: 5,392
Armed Forces (State): 5,272
Others: 850
The site selected for this Minga was Tafxnú, where the Colombian army set up camp in February 2008. While a ritual was being held here, similar actions were taken by indigenous communities against FARC positions in the region.
Tafxnú (loosely translated from Nasa Yuwe, as House of the Sun) is where the Nasa traditionally held their most significant yearly ritual, the summer solstice celebration I described in a previous post. It is a high plateau with a privileged view. Tafxnú also happens to be where Cineminga began its work in Colombia, and where we started a modest community media center.
Cineminga's mission is to strengthen traditional cultures, our primary goal right now is to produce audio-visual materials that can be used in indigenous education programs. But it is impossible to do this work in Colombia without facing the brutality of the current armed conflict.
My short experience in Cauca gives a sense of how acute and the situation is.
Having been detained, tied up, and held at gunpoint by guerrilla fighters in my first week working in Tierradentro, in October of 2007, I had to drop everything and run one early morning four months later, as an army plane started bombing the area. Appeals from community leaders for the parties to engage in combat away from the village went unheard. A young man from the village died in crossed fire only days after I left.
In March of this year, I witnessed first hand how the entire community in Tafxnú was forced to leave its ancestral home. Troops had set up camp next to the spring from which the community drew its drinking water, and fecal matter started turning up in tested samples. Kids had started getting sick. Again, complaints were ignored and relief was never offered. Over 300 people had to dismantle their homes, and move elsewhere. These families are now being charged rent for the land where they have been living since, in a different reservation. They have unceremoniously joined Colombia's 3 to 5 million internally displaced.
The United Nations adopted a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007, which reads (in article 30, numeral 2), "States shall undertake effective consultations with the indigenous peoples concerned, through appropriate procedures and in particular through their representative institutions, prior to using their lands or territories for military activities."
The Colombian government abstained from voting to ratify this Declaration, and defends its right to send the army anywhere in the country in order to fight terrorism, with or without the consent of indigenous institutions. No one in Colombia ignores the difficult challenges faced by the administration, but indigenous peoples are paying a disproportionately high price in a conflict that cannot be solved by force alone.
A recent report by ONIC (National Indigenous Organization of Colombia) includes these figures:
Between January 1st, 1998 and June 30th, 2009, 19,490 (nineteen-thousand, four-hundred and ninety) indigenous individuals have been killed. The deaths are attributed to the different forces as follows:
Guerrillas: 7,976
Paramilitary groups: 5,392
Armed Forces (State): 5,272
Others: 850
It is in this context that Cauca saw the birth of the Indigenous Guard, unarmed young men and women charged with the mission of assisting their leaders in protecting their communities, and "liberating Mother Earth." The Guard plays an important role in rituals like this one, that seek to kick the "military spirit" out of indigenous lands.
Over a thousand people came together for this Minga.
Some walked for two days to reach Tafxnú.
Taking a break, and moving on...
Upon arrival, at the threshold, each person's head was "refreshed" using medicinal plants.
The army had retreated to a higher spot, and stayed away for the length of the Minga.
Tunnels and trenches like this one were found and dismantled.
A uniform left behind was used to make this dummy, which was later buried during the ritual covering of the trenches.
Materials used to build the trenches were burned to clean the area.
The Guard, getting the job done.
There was a time for eating.
A time for music and celebration.
A time for drinking chicha...
Even a time for watching movies. We screened two Cineminga productions, and got very positive feedback.
And after an all night ritual, we welcomed the new sun joyfully.
The Cineminga team that covered this event consisted of Rossana, Inocencio, Geodiel and me. Additional photos were taken by Viyi Finscué.
Cineminga was the only media organization present in Tafxnú. Two of the three video cameras we used, and one of two still cameras, were donated by Cineminga supporters. The footage is being edited on a donated ibook that is moving between Tafxnú, Popayán and Bogotá. We need two more Macs for this team, they don't have to be fancy, just able to run Final Cut Pro. Join the Minga, don't be shy. If you value the work we are doing and wish to make a donation, please write to info@cineminga.org
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