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BIOPOLITICS INTERNATIONAL
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Date Posted: 02/17/06 3:54
Author Host/IP: 222-152-198-161.jetstream.xtra.co.nz/222.152.198.161
In reply to:
BIOPOLITICS INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATION
's message, "Bios Prize to The Kogi" on 01/10/06 22:24
>Bios Prize to The Kogi
>
>In an effort to provide global recognition to the
>little known safekeepers of our planet, B.I.O. awarded
>a Bios Prize to The Kogi community in the Sierra
>Nevada de Santa Marta, in Colombia. The Prize was
>conferred by B.I.O. President, Dr. Agni
>Vlavianos-Arvanitis, during a visit to the area with
>the Minister of Environment of Colombia, Mr. Juan Mayr
>Maldonado in 1999.
>The continuation of life on our planet is threatened
>because people are out of balance with nature. The few
>who have acknowledged the interdependence among all
>forms of life stand as safekeepers of our future. The
>Kogi are a model of excellence in their perception of
>our role as human beings on this planet. They care for
>nature by preserving their native culture. A culture
>which ties them to the environment and provides the
>wisdom necessary to appreciate the value of this
>interdependence. As there is no record of war in the
>history of their civilisation, they embody peace and
>global environmental harmony.
>The Kogi have stayed on the land of their ancestors
>without abusing it, and they have maintained their
>culture and mythos as a token of their appreciation to
>Mother Nature who has given them the gift of life.
>They protect and cherish the environment, the soil,
>the air, the water, and all living beings. They are an
>inspiration for South America and also for the entire
>world.
>For saving the culture of the past, for acknowledging
>the value of our interdependence with the environment,
>and for safeguarding our future, the Kogi are awarded
>the Bios Prize.
>
>Mythology
>
>Mother Shibalaneuman, mother of the songs, mother of
>all our ancestors. At the beginning she gave birth to
>all of us.
>She is the mother of all human races. She is the
>mother of all tribes.
>She is the mother of all the lakes, rivers, trees and
>any kind of life that grows on Earth.
>She is the mother of the songs and dances. The mother
>of the world and the ancient stone brothers. Mother of
>the fruits and everything that the Earth produces.
>Mother of all the musical instruments and of all the
>temples, she is the only mother we have.
>She alone is the mother of fire, the sun and the
>galaxy.
>She is also the mother of herself, and when she
>baptized herself she gave the name Poporo. She is the
>mother of the rain; the only one we have.
>Mother Shibalaneuman left her memory in all the
>temples, together with her sons Sintana, Seijankua,
>Aluanuiko and Kuitahavitabuaya. She left us memories,
>songs and dances.
>This is the way it was described by the priests and
>older brothers.
>
>The Ancestors
>
>The myth regarding the mother Shibalaneuman, given in
>1915 to the investigator K.T. Preuss by the priest
>Palomino Miguel Nolavita, said that the mother
>Shibalaneuman, at the very beginning, gave birth to
>all things: the world, the human being, the animals,
>the plants, the fire, the lakes, the songs and dances.
>
>It was the mother who gave the Kogi, through her sons,
>the moral, social and spiritual code of life. It is
>"the code of the mother," as these indigenous people
>have named it, and it should be strictly observed by
>all tribes.
>
>With the offerings of the mother and her sons, and of
>all the mothers and fathers that have lived in the
>past and have created the world, the Kogi let the
>universe follow its normal course. Only the Kogi take
>care of life. They are the older brothers of the white
>people. White people do not know this. White people
>only know the law of Man; they do not know the law of
>Nature.
>
>Only the Kogi know the secret entrusted to them by
>their ancestors of how everything in the universe
>springs up, grows, reproduces and dies. The secret of
>the rain or of the arrival of the summer and the
>secret of daily sunshine.
>
>There are specific priests in the tribes called Mamas
>in charge of verifying every day the universal order
>and the social and spiritual order for the tribe.
>These Mamas are educated from a very young age so they
>will have a deep knowledge of "the code of the mother"
>and, at the same time, know more about the universe.
>They observe the diverse natural changes of the
>universe, either the cycles of the animal or vegetable
>universe or the stellar cycles.
>
>Through the year, the Kogi observe the displacement of
>the sun, the moon and the stars. Through them, they
>can understand the changes of nature and the world
>itself as related to the Kogi tribes. The calendar of
>the Kogi tribes is determined by the stars.
>
>Way of Life
>
>The Kogi tribes live in the mountains of the Sierra
>Nevada of Santa Marta, with an indigenous population
>of 500 thousand belonging linguistically to the
>Chibcha family. They live in different areas in
>valleys of the mountains.
>
>Through the year, the tribes move from one farm to
>another. Each tribe has four or five farms, located in
>different areas and climates. In this way, every
>family or tribe has access to a big and diverse range
>of agricultural products, thus guaranteeing for
>themselves self-reliance in acquiring food.
>
>They arrive to one farm and stay there until they have
>collected all the crops they have planted before they
>left. These crops will provide them with food for the
>next two or three weeks. When they have harvested the
>crops, they proceed with planting them again, for the
>next period. Once they have planted the crops they
>move on to another farm, a bit higher up in the
>mountain, and do the same. Since the farms are located
>at different altitudes, they have a wide range of
>produce to eat. Their basic produce is potatoes,
>onions, garlic, and a variety of beans, plantain
>bananas, yucca, sugar cane, corn, avocado and some
>fruits like pineapple, mango and guanabana. They
>complement their vegetable diet with meat or fish. The
>Kogi are one of the very few cultures that still
>preserve their traditions. They see with sorrow how
>"civilised" people, as we call ourselves, are
>destroying and taking possession of the land where
>they have their mystic territories.
>
>If only we, "the civilised people," tried to
>understand and respect one of the most valuable
>cultures of the American Continent, we could generate
>the mechanisms to protect the "Center of the World,"
>these mystic territories, whose history gets lost in
>time.
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Bios Prize to The Kogi