Our goal was to screen the films “Rober de Jesus Guacheta: The Work Goes On” (2009) and “Jiisa Weçe: The Root of Knowledge” (2010), and give copies to each Cabildo and to the schools in each Reservation.
Our first task was to prepare the DVDs to be delivered. We needed about 75 copies of each film for this initial phase of the tour covering 12 Reservations. We burned the DVDs ourselves and made the covers, which are cardboard sleeves marked with stamps of Rober’s face and Quintin’s signature. The discs also have these images printed on them and we include an inset with poems by Inocencio Ramos.
Having completed this job in our office in Agoyan, Silvia municipality (re-settlement site for displaced families from Huila Reservation), we set off to Mosoco, where we had our first presentation.
We arrived in Mosoco Reservation (Muse Ukwe in the Nasa language) on the night of March 5th, and prepared for the screening right away. The Cabildo had readied the multi-purpose room and loudspeakers could be heard inviting the community to join us for the screening.
The next day we left for San Jose Reservation (Çxa’b Uuse). It was a long walk through beautiful landscapes, in which Geodiel told me about a massacre on a bridge crossing which was one of the greatest suffered by the Nasa people.
The people there were very attentive during the screening, and glad that videos had been brought to their community in this way for the first time, especially videos about Nasa leaders.
We spent the night there and the following day, March 7, we had to get ready to visit Lame. We returned to Mosoco and accepted an invitation to do a screening at Mosoco Juan Tama School. Social studies teacher Reinel gathered students from the 7th and 8th grades.
The Governor hosted us for the night in his home, and at noon on the 8th we left for Suin (Usswal) Reservation. The Governor of Suin sent a pair of horses to Lame to make our journey lighter.
Once in Suin we started organizing the venue for the screening and little by little the children and then the adults joined us. They encouraged us to keep visiting them, and let us know how valuable it was for them to see these videos.
The next day we did some interviews. It was March 9th and we were scheduled to screen in Chinas (Supxi) Reservation that night. My partner Geodiel had blisters on his feet. But the distance between the two Reservation was not so great, this gave us time for some much needed rest.
At night we held the screening, there were more than 100 people in attendance. This village has no electricity so we used a gas-powered generator. Again we were thanked and encouraged to continue with this work. We are very pleased with the participation of teachers in the screenings, and with being able to enrich their teaching materials.
On the 10th we were to visit Vitoncó (Sxa’b Wala) Reservation, and the place the Governor picked for the screening was Cuartel. This meant we had to travel from Chinas to Suin, Suin to Lame, and Lame to Cuartel. We started off with an elder who led a packhorse, while we were riding two horses. Actually, I was riding a mule that was being followed by its foal. We rode until reaching Lame and continued our journey to Cuartel on foot.
Once we arrived, we were taken to the screening site and started preparing for the evening. Shaman Pio Oteca, who acts as Quintin Lame in our film, is from this community but the film hadn’t been shown there. 108 people attended and the screening was full of laughter and rounds of applause for Pio.
That night Geodiel soaked his feet in hot water with plants, they were in bad shape. We didn’t have much time to rest, a local bus was taking us to Huila (Kwë Zi') Reservation the next morning at 4. It was the first day since we had started our tour that we were going to be in a car again. We saw the sun rise in Chachucue, where the bus dropped us off, and from there we made it to Caloto where the screening for Huila would be.
Once in Caloto, Geodiel prepared a video he had been working on about the funeral of a friend and leader from that community, that he planed to present that night. This is Geodiel’s hometown and we have screened our work there before so we wanted to show something new.
The following day we delivered copies of the films to Benjamin Dindicue School, where headmaster Alirio welcomed us warmly. Later, around noon on March 12th, we started towards Toez Reservation.
Once in Toez (Tu’ Sek) the Governor welcomed us and took us to the Toez Rural Co-Ed School, where the screening was to be that night. Local leaders, teachers and villagers were present. We had a dialogue about the films and screened an additional video about mining.
The following day, March 13th, Talaga Reservation was scheduled. The governor had selected the Paez Indigenous Seminary school for the screening, but when we arrived the headmaster told us the school day was almost over and there was no time for a screening. So we left the DVDs and asked her to please show them to the students.
Our following activity was at Avirama (Piilamu) Reservation, so on the 14th we traveled from Belalcazar to Guaquiyo where we would have the screening. We had to cross the Paez River to get there, and there is a bridge for this purpose but it is unfinished at one end, and there is a long bamboo ladder instead. After finally crossing the river, we went up a mountain and reached Guaquiyo.
We held the screening outdoors, under the stars, and people were excited to be there in spite of the cold. We got questions about the performances in Root of Knowledge, and we invited the youth who were interested to join us in future projects. That night we enjoyed the company of our friend Guillermo Pardo who invited us to stay in his home.
On the morning of the 15th we left for Belalcazar Reservation (Ne’ga Çxhab), our next screening was in the Cabildo offices in the main town. We were greeted by the Governess and other members of the Cabildo. We screened our films as well as others that dealt with oil and mining issues. There was a very interesting discussion about Manuel Quintin Lame and Rober Guacheta, and the risks that are now threatening Nasa territories. They spoke about the importance of raising awareness within the community of the consequences of oil exploitation and open-pit mining.
That night we rested in Belalcazar and the following day headed to Togoima Reservation. We had been warned of the difficult climb we had to make to reach this area, but we set off on the morning of the 16th in high spirits. The Governor had told us how excited the community was about our visit, this gave us extra strength for the climb. The Cabildo’s treasurer met us at Coquiyo Bridge with a horse for our luggage, and she led the way. People say it’s very easy to get lost there.
In the village they had prepared a large room for the screening and people showed up on time. This was the place where we had the largest turnout, 163 people came and they didn’t want the screening to end. We stayed there until midnight watching films and sharing with the community. It was a very beautiful experience.
The next day, March 17th, was the last date on our tour and we were scheduled to visit Cohetando (Kweta’d Kiwe) Reservation. The place selected by the Governess was the community of La Palma, so we went back to Belalcazar to get transportation for La Palma. On the way back, after Coquiyo Bridge, we took two motorcycles. The first one reached Belalcazar without trouble, I was in that one. Geodiel was riding behind, but he wasn’t as lucky, or at least the motorcycle wasn’t. In one of the dangerous curves, the second motorcycle had an accident. Both the driver (Adan) and the passenger (Geodiel) rolled along with the motorcycle 100 ft. down a steep abyss that ends on the Paez River. Luckily neither was injured in the accident, scratches and bruises but nothing serious; they were mostly in awe of still being alive. Surprisingly, the bag with equipment that Geodiel was carrying stayed on the road and nothing was damaged, the motorcycle had a different fate.
Well, with this we finished the first part of our screening tour. We went through moments of fear, moments of physical effort, moments of exhaustion, but mostly beautiful moments of sharing with the people, the territory and their history. We were nourished by each word, each gesture, each raindrop, each gust of wind. There is a comment that stayed with me after hearing it in different places – that the Nasa people are not so much into reading and books, but by watching and hearing these videos they can learn about their own history. Seeing that our videos are useful to the communities encourages us to persist in our work.
We have planned a second phase of the tour, in which we will cover the remaining Reservations in Paez and those in Inza Municipality. We are looking for funds to do this, if you can help us in any way don’t hesitate to contact us.
Finally we would like to thank all the Governors of the Reservations who welcomed us into their territories and allowed us to do the screenings. We are grateful to the people in each community for the warm attention they gave us, for feeding us, and for helping us with our luggage. We would also like to specially thank Javier Nieto from Emisora Chimbila and Rumbox for lending us the projector.
Original Spanish Text - Rosaura Villanueva
Images - Geodiel Chindicue/Rosaura VIllanueva
