Film as a Tool of Empowerment for Indigenous Communities

An interesting story about using film to promote indigenous knowledge and empower indigenous peoples to decide their own paths posted on Indian Country Today: 'Where Our Ancestors Once Tread'
Posted: October 30, 2006
by: Lisa Garrigues / Today correspondent
Click to Enlarge Photos by Lisa Garrigues -- Top: More than 1,000 delegates from all over the Americas attended the five-day Continental Indigenous Encounter, ''From Resistance to Power,'' which was hosted by the Bolivian government in La Paz, Bolivia, Oct. 8 - 12. Valbina Miguel Toribio, of the Yanesha people of the Peruvian Amazon, brought the video she worked on, ''Where Our Ancestors Once Tread,'' to a rally to share the story of her people with other indigenous nations. Toribio believes that video can help preserve the histories and traditions of Amazonian peoples who are in danger of cultural extinction. Bottom: Toribio and an unidentified delegate attended the Oct. 12 rally in La Paz to listen to President Evo Morales and other indigenous representatives speak for ''Dia de la Resistencia.'' Valbina Miguel Toribio talks about filming the Yanesha LA PAZ, Bolivia - Valbina Miguel Toribio was a long way from her village in the Peruvian Amazon as she gazed out the bus window at the bright but chilly altiplano landscape of Bolivia. She wore the traditional long brown dress and beaded red necklaces of the Yanesha people and, underneath it, a cream-colored, long-sleeved turtleneck to protect against the cold. ''If you take my picture, don't show too much of this thing I'm wearing underneath,'' she said, laughing. Toribio, though still in her 20s, is a traditionalist. She went to La Paz to attend the Continental Encounter of Indigenous Peoples and share the history of her people with the video she worked on, ''Where Our Ancestors Once Tread.'' The video project, she believes, is a good example of how Amazonian peoples can rescue and record their fast-disappearing oral histories and traditions. Toribio's community, Loma Linda, is located in the eastern Amazon jungle region of Peru. Like many other Amazon peoples, the Yanesha began regular contact with outsiders only in the last 50 years. But in that time, according to Toribio and other Amazonians, cultural change has been rapid. Most people of Toribio's generation in jungle communities bordering the encroaching ''civilization'' could care less about their histories or language. They want to learn English. They want to forget. Underneath her easy laughter, Toribio is nervous about the survival of her people. It's not just cultural survival she's worried about, it's physical survival. She's worried because there's been an increase in illegal logging around the community. She's worried because a large oil company has recently signed a contract with the Peruvian government and Yanesha leaders to begin exploration on Yanesha land. ''In the beginning the oil companies say they're going to do this and that for the community. In the end, all we see is what happens in other communities: a lot of contamination in the river. The birds are dying, the plants are dying.'' ''Look what's happening to the Machiguenga. Their community has been working with the company PlusPetrol, and the river is being contaminated, the fish are dying. You can't drink the water anymore because it's so contaminated with oil, and the children that drink it are covered with sores ... I've seen videos which really leave you shocked. ''Our most important food is yucca, but the earth is no longer producing it the way it should. In some areas, when it grows, it looks like someone has thrown hot water on it, it's all bent over. I've seen this in videos in Lima, and I know that in my community this will happen as well.'' The video Toribio worked on is not about problems with illegal logging or oil companies. It's about the way things were before, when the Yanesha could still see and speak to the spirits that populated their land. But she feels that it's important to draw strength from the past in order to confront the problems of the present. ''Very few people see the spirits of place anymore. They're still there, they just don't show themselves the way they used to.'' Like many young Peruvians in rural areas, Toribio migrated to Lima to find a job, returning to the ancestral territory of the Yanesha. She began working with the Instituto del Bien Comun, an organization dedicated to conservation of nature and indigenous culture. One of the institute's projects was a series of four videos on the Yanesha culture, in collaboration with the anthropologist Richard Chase Smith and the Federation of Yanesha Communities. Toribio worked both on and off camera on the project. In the series of four videos, community elders were asked to share their traditional songs and knowledge of where the Yanesha had lived and traveled, and what histories, ancestors and spirits were connected to the places they had walked. Like the frog who carried fire for the people as they walked and who is the reason frogs today eat charcoal if you throw it at them. Or the mountain Chemoyepen, which was the temple and final hiding place of Grandfather Coromesh. Or the importance of the sun to all of the Yanesha people. ''At first the elders were very reluctant to talk to us,'' Toribio said. ''They had gone so long without anybody being interested in what they had to say that they just looked at us and said, ''Why should I talk to you? ''But once the videos were completed, it was amazing to see them watch themselves on video,'' she continued. ''One grandmother, as she was watching herself sing, began to cry. 'My children only want to listen to mestizo music,' the grandmother said. 'Nobody has cared about my songs. Now I am crying because I am being heard.''' The videos are now being used in schools, community centers, and to help the Yanesha recover control of their sacred sites. They have had an effect on the younger generation, Toribio said, helping them appreciate what came before them. ''We have to start with the young, with education, with teachers and families,'' she said. When the bus ride to La Paz was almost over, Toribio smoothed down her long sleeves to face the chilly air outside, admitting that the high altitude of La Paz had made her somewhat dizzy. But before she left, she smiled. ''I want to do even more with video work so that my people can be strong,'' she said. ''Q'orianka, that Peruvian Native actress in Hollywood who played Pocahontas: I want to be like her. I want to be someone that inspires Native kids to reconnect to their culture and language, someone they can look at and say, 'If she can do it, why can't I?'''

Organization of Mothers Craft Cooperative

Above: A few of the members of the women's craft cooperative, The Organization of Mothers, in Santa Rosa de Dinamarca with Village Earth representative.

A Village Earth representative met with The Organization of Mothers this past July. The Organization of Mothers (Comite de Artesanos Senen Kena in the Shipibo language) was formed in 2002 when the women of Santa Rosa de Dinamarca realized the value of organizing the many artisans in their community for the benefit of working together , sharing materials, creating marketing plans and proposals, and also as a point of connection in order to access resources. Unfortunately, the group has been self-funded by the women and has not had access to the necessary resources to grow their organization into the self-sufficient artisan cooperative they envision for the future. Village Earth has been working with this community in planning and organizational development for the past 1 ½ years and was asked by The Organization of Mothers to help connect them to outside resources so they can grow their business.

The Organization of Mothers is an organization of 32 women between the ages of 15-60. Currently, most craft production occurs in the home but they prefer to work together and are, therefore, in the process of creating a community artisan center where the women can meet and work collectively. They share a few materials and tools within their group, however, most materials are gathered independently. When the women can afford to travel to Pucallpa, all of the women will send money and lists of materials with the women traveling to Pucallpa. Many materials are gathered from the river and surrounding forests and women usually gather these items together in small groups for both safety and social reasons.

Crafts are sold all over Peru mainly in major tourist centers such as Cusco and Lima, nearby cities such as Pucallpa and Tingo Maria, and also to the few outsiders who travel to Santa Rosa de Dinamarca. Traveling to these far away destinations to sell their crafts is very difficult for the women because of the expense and also because the women must leave their families behind for weeks at a time. They are currently working on a tourism program for their community in hopes of increasing the number of tourists to their community to which they hope to market their crafts. The women are also working with contacts in Canada and the United States to increase international export of their crafts.

They believe that increasing their craft production business will have a very positive impact on the whole community. They believe that through their traditional crafts they are asserting their rights to indigenous self-determination and reinforces what they describe as their endangered culture. By working together and increasing production they believe the quality of their crafts will improve as they work to market their crafts more to tourists and internationally. The income gained through the increased sale of women’s crafts will have a profound effect on the whole community as women are many times the sole cash income earners for their families. Currently, this community has many health problems and they believe that increased income from their craft sales will, in turn, lead to more money for health projects such as better quality health center and educational programs for the youth. They also believe that increased craft production will be of benefit to the natural world surrounding them because the women must care for the plants and animals they use in their craft production.

You can help to support the Organization of Mothers by:

• Making a financial contribution which will support the bulk purchase of craft materials and so they can finish their communal artisan center.
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Self-Determination through Artisan Cooperatives

The Shipibo-Conibo have one of the most elaborate and intriguing polychrome pottery designs in the world. The geometric designs are called quene, literally "symbols of ethnic identity". For centuries these geometric designs have been a symbol of Shipibo identity and have differentiated them from other surrounding indigenous groups .

The designs are codes for songs and chants that relate to their spirituality and shamanic visions during healing ceremonies. Female shamans "see the songs" and "hear the designs" at the same time in a phenomenon known as synesthesia - the blending of the senses. These melodic designs are then recorded into cloth or on pottery in the form of these geometric designs.

Most of the pottery, today, is made for the tourist industry and export markets. However, many community leaders expressed an interest in bringing traditional pottery back into everyday use instead of buying mass produced cheap plastic goods in Pucallpa.

The Shipibo-Conibo have been organizing themselves into artisan cooperatives for the sake of cultural and economic self-determination. Not only do the self-motivated craft co-ops help the Shipibo to retain their cultural identity, but they are also economically empowering because of the high export value of well-made Shipibo crafts. "The Shipibo artisans are an example of how we can combine the skills of our ancestors and the customs of everyday life," says Chanan Meni of Dinamarca. "This project reaffirms our cultural identity in its different aspects: elaboration of our art, designs, and songs by facilitating the infrastructure and adequate spaces for the artisans' activities."

"What the west has to offer is good, but we want something different, because we are different" says Chanan Meni when talking about reviving traditional Shipibo artwork.

Peru's Hidden People at Risk

Many Shipibo people and organizations working in the Peruvian Amazon expressed concern about the plight of their indigenous neighbors who choose to remain uncontacted by the outside world. Those peoples choosing voluntary isolation are threatened by outside invasions on their territory by corporations in search of resources like oil and mineral wealth, and also by landless settlers who tend to settle in newly opened up territories that become linked by roads. Although currently Village Earth is not in the position to directly help these isolated indigenous groups there are others working on their behalf, such as AIDESEP (InterEthnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Amazon) and Survival International If you are concerned about this situation, these groups undertake letter writing campaigns to government officials and corporations and can suggest other ways for concerned people to help in this cause. A good article recently published: Source: Indian Country Today (http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096413836) Peru's hidden people at risk
Posted: October 16, 2006
by: Lisa Garrigues / Today correspondent
Click to Enlarge Photos by Lisa Garrigues -- (Top) Anoshka Violeta Irey Cameno posed with a picture of her uncle, who, like many other Amazon peoples, lived in isolation from the outside world until the 1950s. Cameno now works with the Native Federation of Madre de Dios River and its Tributaries to preserve the lives and territories of Peru's remaining peoples in voluntary isolation. (Bottom)The Mashco-Piro, Isconahua, Nahua and other people who have chosen to live in the jungle in isolation from the outside world are currently at risk from loggers, oil companies and others in the Madre de Dios region of the Peruvian jungle. They live in the deep jungles of Peru, practicing the traditions and customs of their ancestors: hunting monkey, wild boar and other animals with bow and arrow, curing with the abundance of plants available to them, teaching their children the ways of the Amazon forest. Peruvians call them ''calatos,'' naked ones. They are Machiguenga, Mashco Piro, Ashaninkas, Isconahua and other nomadic peoples who have chosen voluntary isolation over the encroaching world of television and Coca-Cola. They are fighting for their right to be left alone, their territory and their lives. ''People in voluntary isolation have a right to be free,'' said Jude Jumanga Jacinto, Ashaninka, general secretary of AIDESEP (the Inter-Ethnic Development Association of the Peruvian Jungle), an indigenous organization that works to preserve the territory, health and lives of Peru's Amazonian peoples. Increasingly, people in voluntary isolation have come under threat from loggers and oil companies who are seeking new lands for exploitation, she said. International explorers and religious organizations have also moved into territory that was once a safe haven for these peoples. As a result of Native pressure, the Peruvian government has established ''protected areas'' for people in voluntary isolation. But confrontations between illegal loggers and Native people in isolation are frequent. All too often, death has been the result. As the loggers have invaded their territory in search of wood that has been depleted elsewhere, Native inhabitants have responded with bow and arrow. The deaths of loggers can be counted by the media and government: in the Madre de Dios region there were two last year and one so far this year. In these confrontations, the deaths of Native community members, whose bodies are brought back to the jungle by family and friends, are more difficult for government officials to count. The Peruvian government is supposed to be monitoring these protected areas against illegal logging, according to Francisco Lozano Perez, chief of illegal logging investigations for the Madre de Dios regional Natural Resources Department, but in actual practice the guard posts are few; and the guards, made up of police and officials of INRENA, the National Institute of Natural Resources, are frequently corrupted by loggers. So the people in isolation have frequently had no choice but to protect themselves. People in more settled Native communities in contact with the outside world have also acted as ''border guards'' for nomadic isolated peoples, putting their own lives at risk in the process. In one such community, Monte Salvado, people complain that they receive constant death threats from loggers, who have set up camp inside protected territories. Members of FENAMAD, the Native Federation of Madre de Dios River and its Tributaries, are currently lobbying the government to provide more police and government protection in these communities. For people in voluntary isolation, diseases of the outside world like the cold and influenza can be fatal. In 1984, a group of loggers kidnapped four Nahua people and then released them back to their community in the jungle. The Nahua who had come into contact with the loggers came down with the flu, and infected other community members. As a result, half the Nahua died that year. Despite this well-publicized event, members of communities in isolation continue to be infected by outsiders. ''There have been several epidemics reported from 1999 to 2004,'' said Dr. Neptali Cueva, of the Ministry of Health of the Madre de Dios region. In 2003, 15 members of a community living near the river Mamiria died after contact with European members of an expedition in search of the mythical Incan kingdom of Paititi, according to Pedro Bajualdo Elustondo, a Basque anthropologist who has traveled for four years among the Amazon peoples. Isolated peoples have also had to defend themselves against the Peruvian oil boom that began in the 1980s. After several members of the Yora community died from viral contamination they caught when Shell/Chevron began drilling near their traditional lands close to the Camisea River, the Peruvian government created the Reserva Nahua Kugapakori. But isolated peoples in the region continue to be affected by the Camisea project, according to a report issued this year by government investigator Beatriz Merino Lucero, who said they are ''particularly vulnerable to respiratory and gastrointestinal infections'' brought by contamination of the area and contact with workers. Religious organizations have historically been the first to make contact with isolated peoples, offering metal utensils and weapons along with the Bible to people who have been using stone weapons and tools. Though new evangelical groups have joined the Catholic Church in their efforts to convert isolated peoples, Marlene Rodriguez, of FENAMAD, said the Catholic Church recently issued a promise to them that it would no longer offer machetes to isolated peoples in an effort to convert them. Educating the public about the current risk to isolated peoples is one of FENAMAD's priorities, said another FENAMAD representative, Anoshka Violeta Irey Cameno. ''The parents of the children we talk to are loggers,'' she said. ''Maybe the kids can make a difference.'' Cameno's interest is not theoretical, but personal. Like many Amazon Native people, she grew up hearing the stories of her parents and grandparents about life before contact with the outside world, which occurred here only 50 years ago. Her parents, in their 70s and 80s, still practice many of the traditional ways and live in a community that maintains occasional contact with people in isolation. Cueva, Jude Jumango Jacinto and other Native representatives agree that educating the public is a top priority, as are strengthening the corridor of Native communities that protect people in isolation and increasing government protection. At a recent conference in Puerto Maldonado, health workers, Native leaders and others worked on a document to establish specific protocol for preventing outside contact with isolated peoples. ''They've managed to avoid conquest by the Spanish and the Incan empires,'' Neptali said after the conference. ''Hopefully they can continue to survive.'' Peru, along with Brazil, is estimated to have the highest number of people living in voluntary isolation. These peoples also live in Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia.