In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, indigenous peoples combine immune fragility, extreme precariousness in terms of access to health care and government policies that very often forget them. Therefore they are particularly at risk in Brazil, the second most affected country with 347,398 cases. French-Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado launched a petition online on 3 May calling for “urgent measures” from the government to protect indigenous people from the virus. “The indigenous peoples of Brazil risk being decimated by Covid-19 if urgent measures are not taken to protect them”, he wrote in his petition with already 291,859 signatures.
Faced with the silence of the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, the indigenous people are obliged to organise themselves. This is exactly what the Sateré Mawé community has done. Living near Manaus, the main Amazonian city, whose health services are completely saturated, they have turned to their traditional knowledge. The indigenous people travel the Amazon River in search of medicinal plants to create their own remedies made from tree bark, lemon, mint, ginger, etc. Using their ancestral knowledge, they concoct herbal teas to combat the symptoms of Covid-19.
According to the UN, “the indigenous communities that are most successful in resisting the Covid-19 pandemic are those that have achieved autonomy, which allows them to manage their lands and resources, and to ensure food security through their cultures and traditional medicine”, according to the expert on indigenous peoples’ rights, José Francisco Cali Tzay. For him, “today more than ever, governments around the world should help indigenous peoples implement their own community protection plans“.
Some indigenous in Panama have also made a “return to basics” according to sociologist Jean Foyer, in an article published on the blog of the Institute of the Americas, Covidam. They have returned to traditional agriculture, fishing and medicine since the beginning of the pandemic. Remedies and know-how inspired by nature, with which indigenous cultures have an inherent relationship.
The voice of nature
Thus, in the cosmogony of the Kichwa Indians of Sarayaku, Ecuador: “the Earth, the human beings, the animals, the mountains, but also the invisible living beings of the forest, form a whole”. It is essential to protect the forest in the same way as human beings. For them, the current pandemic is not a coincidence. They are convinced that if we take care of the Earth, life could reborn there. They call today to take advantage of the global crisis to reconnect with nature. They are setting an example themselves.
Already in 2008, they tabled the declaration of the “Selva vivante” and requested its inscription on UNESCO’s intangible heritage list. At the same time, their country became the first to have included the rights of nature in its constitution. Ecuador is a real paradox since it derives 40% of its GDP and nearly 60% of its exports from hydrocarbon exploitation. But “exploit while preserving” seems to be the motto of this government, which in July 2018 launched a plan for a sustainable bioeconomy.
Patricia Gualinga is one of the figures in this fight to preserve nature. She is the daughter of Don Sabino, the Shaman of the community and of 3 generations of resistance fighters. In 2002, the day when 600 soldiers and 400 workers landed without warning with helicopters, dogs and explosives to carry out seismic explorations, her life was turned upside down. Her decision was made. It will be no. Patricia becomes an ambassador for the rights of nature and the president of the Amazonian Women’s Alliance. Together, they defend a feminine art of resistance, composed of transparency, intuition and a language of truth. Today, the Sarayakus are dedicated to promoting “Sumak Kawsay“, the good life in harmony. They also intend to propose an alternative to reduce the consequences of global warming.
Coming soon : the documentary The Voice of nature
Picture: Misha Vallejo
Océane Segura
