In an act to mark International Day of Indigenous Peoples, they commemorated their caring for Petro throughout these days of campaigning and continue to do so by presenting the cane, a symbol and ritual element offering spiritual protection from Mother Nature will do to mentor him in all the work as President.
“Today you are protected by your ancestors (…) and we would like to appoint you to the honor guard of the indigenous peoples,” they expressed as they presented the symbol, made by an Amazonian elder.
At the handover ceremony, starring an indigenous girl, they recalled their pilgrimage through the indigenous communities of Colombia.
“Ever since you traveled the Territories you have been a Warden, and today we want to make this exercise official as a Warden of Peace, as a Warden of Life,” they said.
Petro said it was necessary, in its specificity, in its otherness, to recognize in a way that the indigenous struggles, the resistances in the 1991 constitution, have won triumphs that seem more rhetorical than real, but undoubtedly society has Progress made in recognition.
The indigenous presence in Colombia has gained spiritual power, which is the most important, cultural and organizational, he stressed.
He stressed that “a new theme is now added to the indigenous movement, in addition to its classic traditional tasks of defending territory, culture and autonomy: to govern for Colombia”.
Now they govern for themselves and for others, which has not been the case in the past, added President Petro, who highlighted the role that his new ambassador to the United Nations, Arawak social leader Leonor Zalabata, will play.
Ahead of his inauguration this Sunday, Petro also appointed Patricia Tobón, an Embera lawyer and truth commissioner, to lead the victims’ unit, and Giovani Yule, a Nasa sociologist, will lead the land restitution unit.
Colombia is one of the countries with the most indigenous communities in Latin America, with 102, among which the Wayú people, the Embera Chocó, the Guambinos or the Amazonian Ticuna and Nukak Maku stand out.
The ratification of the 1991 Constitution recognized the country’s ethnic diversity and allowed indigenous communities to participate in Colombia’s public and political life, enabling them to enter the Republic’s Congress.
However, these populations continue to suffer from stigma, segregation and racism, and despite the rights acquired and contemplated in Magna Carta, they are often violated, but now they are beginning to live a new reality.
On December 23, 1994, the General Assembly passed a resolution that International Day of Indigenous People should be observed on August 9 each year.
This date commemorates the holding of the first meeting of the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities in 1982.
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