indigenous peoples
Nearly 100 members of Colombia’s indigenous communities spent 40 days helping to find four children lost in the jungle
Fri 16 Jun 2023 at 11am BST
As they searched the untracked expanse of the Colombian Amazon for four lost tribal children, military rescue teams were well-prepared for the seemingly impossible task: Using high-resolution satellite technology, they were able to locate the spot where the small plane carrying the youths had crashed, and had been doing so for years War with rebel groups meant soldiers were used to operating in difficult terrain.
But the technology will only get you so far in the Amazon region.
“We could see the leaves of the trees perfectly, but we didn’t know what was underneath. That is why everything that was found was found by land. It was step by step finding various pieces of evidence that some found impossible to see,” General Pedro Sánchez, who oversaw the military operation, told reporters.
Indigenous knowledge, bravery, vigilance: how young siblings survived in the dangerous jungles of Colombia
To see what is otherwise unseen, President Gustavo Petro appealed to Colombia’s indigenous communities to help search for the children, ages 1 to 13, who were rescued a week ago after 40 days in the jungle.
Ninety-three people from indigenous communities across the country – including members of the Siona, Nasa, Huitoto, Sikuani, Misak, Murui and Koreguaje peoples – flew to the southern jungle to join 120 soldiers in their search for the dead Helping children, said Luis Acosta, chief of Colombia’s Indigenous Guard.
The volunteers’ efforts have since been commended by the military, who say their familiarity with forest conditions was crucial in locating the children in time.
“It was the combination of our indigenous knowledge with Western know-how that we achieved this result,” said Acosta, who coordinated the indigenous people’s response. “Without our ancient understanding of the forest – its medicinal properties, life and spirits – we would not have found the children when we did.
“We are all different and have our own rich traditions – some come from the mountains, some from the jungle – but we came together for the children.”
For more than a month, from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., the indigenous volunteers silently searched the dense undergrowth, caves and riverbanks for signs of human life.
Without their expertise, search teams could not have covered as much of the area in the jungle, where trees reach 40 m (130 feet) in height and visibility is minimal, Acosta said. Conditions were harsh, with 80% humidity and constant heavy rains.
“One day we were lost with the GPS for hours and it was almost dark. When we stopped using the GPS, regained our senses and looked to the sun to guide us, we quickly rejoined the groups. Sometimes even the best technology is not enough: ancestral knowledge also plays a role,” said Acosta.
The volunteers searched for edible fruits and insects to supplement the military rations. More important to the success of the mission, however, were medicinal plants, which gave the seekers the mental and physical strength to endure under adverse conditions.
“We also shared our ancestral knowledge with the soldiers, and they were very grateful for the strength the plants gave them to keep going,” Acosta said.
Still, several of the rescuers are currently being treated in hospital in Bogotá after contracting pneumonia and tropical diseases. Seven indigenous seekers with respiratory infections are still awaiting transport to Bogotá.
The indigenous searchers also prayed for the spirits of the jungle to protect the children and protect and guide the search parties.
“Some did not eat animals as an offering to the forest for 40 days. Not even a line until the kids showed up,” says Flavio Yepes, a member of the Sikuani community.
Both Yepes and Acosta said such spiritual strategies are fundamental to salvation.
“At night the tigers called, which kept us alert during the search. A lot of us had dreams that helped us find our way to the kids,” Acosta said.
The seekers also ingested yagé, or ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic herbal drink that indigenous faith healers say can open the mind to enable spiritual insights.
Henry Guerrero, a member of the search party, said: “The army did not have the capabilities to move in the Colombian Amazon. We taught them how to survive in the jungle. [But] After 25 days we were totally demoralized… We realized that it was impossible to find her with human work alone, so we decided to turn to spiritual work. We took Yagé because the search had become really difficult.”
The breakthrough finally came on June 8, Yepes said, when a group of Murui people — locals from the region where the plane crashed — performed a ceremony where they chanted and consumed yagé in hopes of gaining spiritual guidance receive.
“Some people become anacondas during these ceremonies, some become tigers, others become large birds. I don’t know what animals the Murui turned into that night, but it was the reason they returned to the crash site where they found the children,” Yepes said.
The next day, the children were found emaciated and shoeless in a forest clearing just 4 km (2.5 miles) from the crash site. Thirteen-year-old Lesly Mukutuy was praised for helping the younger children, thanks to her grandmother’s teachings, by identifying edible fruits and finding water.
The Murui seekers who found them celebrated with chanting, prayer and smoking tobacco, which they consider sacred.
Military commanders have since commended the indigenous communities’ help, which they say was vital to the children’s recovery.
Acosta said the success changed the soldiers’ view of Colombia’s indigenous people, who only make headlines when protests over resource projects clash with security forces.
“I hope people realize that we are not guerrillas and have no interest in war. We are a force for life and protectors of Mother Earth,” says Acosta.
Other members of the search team expressed hope that the episode would draw attention to conditions in the Amazon, where the Colombian state has barely established a presence and indigenous communities are at the mercy of drug mafias and guerrilla groups like the dissident factions of the FARC rebels.
At a press conference in Bogotá, Guerrero – who, like the four children, is a member of the Huitoto community – urged Petro to increase security and improve transport infrastructure so that locals are no longer dependent on flimsy planes like the one the children are flying on had travelled.
“In reality, this region is completely deserted,” he said. “There is a military base in Araracuara, but the rest of the surrounding region is completely controlled by the FARC dissident groups.”
The critical importance that indigenous groups can have in protecting the Amazon from deforestation is increasingly recognized by researchers, as is the depth of their irreplaceable knowledge of the region’s flora and fauna.
“Nobody questions the difficulty of finding a needle in a haystack, and in this case the haystack was the Colombian Amazon, which is the size of New England,” says Mark Plotkin, an expert on the healing powers of plants and shamans in the Amazon rainforest. “The fact that they appealed to indigenous wisdom shows that these people know the forest better than anyone.”
“I hope that the whole world has now seen the power of our knowledge and customs. “Mother Earth sent a message in protecting children: that we must protect Mother Earth,” Acosta said.
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