Defenders of Mother Earth

The Arhuaco are one of four indigenous communities who are descendants of Tairona culture in the northeast of Colombia and currently reside in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains. As one of the profoundly spiritual communities, the Arhuaco follow their unique cosmology and worldview. The spiritual leaders of community are called Mamos who spend several years in training before becoming leaders.
As a part of their worldview, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is considered to be the heart of the world and indigenous communities are responsible for preserving it. Hence, territory is a fundamental part of their cultural and social integrity. It is through the territory that the relationship between various human societies as well as spiritual connections develop. Despite this, the Arhuaco are currently occupying only a fraction of their original lands while fighting for the rest of their ancestral territories. 
For many years, indigenous communities of the Sierra Nevada, who identify themselves as elder brothers, have been giving warning to younger brothers or non-indigenous people regarding the maltreatment of nature and its resources which, according to Mamos, would lead to serious consequences including the spread of unknown illnesses. This work depicts the daily life of an Arhuaco community which has initiated an effort to familiarize non-indigenous people with the Arhuaco philosophy in order to avoid further destruction of the mother earth.
La Guajira, Colombia - Gunabia and her son, Duiyari, sitting atop a hill close to the Colombia-Venezuela border in La Guajira department. In Arhuaco philosophy, these mountains are seen as sacred places and community members are responsible for takin
La Guajira, Colombia - Duiyari work the land of his community. Main economic activity of the Arhuaco is agriculture. Various crops are cultivated including bananas, coffee, and cocoa bean.
La Guajira, Colombia - Karolina cooking food on a wood-burning stove. Many of the ingredients used for food comes from the community's products. As each community lives at a different altitude with different climate, each community has slightly diffe
La Guajira, Colombia - Neli washing dirty dishes after a long day. The community doesn't have access to tap water, electricity, and gas. The water is transported from an adjacent river by pipes.
La Guajira, Colombia - Gunabia washing children's dirty clothes at the end of each day. During the day, children are free to wander around and to learn by experiencing new things. The Arhuaco live in traditional dwellings which are tightly connected
La Guajira, Colombia - Gunabia wears a traditional Arhuaco clothing called Iku Muka. The traditional clothing of the Arhuaco is woven with white maguey fibers to represent purity, along with conical hats that represent the snow-capped peaks of their
La Guajira, Colombia - Tangumu playing in the yard. Indigenous education is a comprehensive process that starts from before birth and continues until after death. In Arhuaco communities, Mamos or wise men, provide community members with spiritual and
La Guajira, Colombia - Girls usually help their mothers with household chores. All Arhuaco have sets of traditional clothes although not everyone uses it on a daily basis. Neli put on her traditional dress for this photo.
La Guajira, Colombia - From early age, boys help their fathers with working the land and taking care of animals. Duiyarin is the eldest son of the family and despite his young age, he is involved in various activities.
La Guajira, Colombia - Neli standing atop a mountain hill looking at her village.
La Guajira, Colombia - Gunabia trying to find internet connection atop a hill above the village. There is no cellphone coverage in the village and to get connected to the outside world, community members need to hike to a mountain tip. Even there, th
La Guajira, Colombia - Gunabia and Duiyarin bringing back a lamb to the village. The mother has left the lamb up in the mountains the day before. Herding is among principal economic activities of the Arhucao. All community members, including the yout
La Guajira, Colombia - Gunabia weaves a traditional Arhuaco bag, called Tutu. Each tutu has a different pattern closely related to Arhuaco spirituality and cosmovision. They are used for various purposes including carrying coca leaves, food, and pers
La Guajira, Colombia - Spiritual leaders of the Arhuaco communities are called Mamo. They get trained as of their infancy by the elders to develop a close relationship with the nature and spiritual beings in other dimensions.
La Guajira, Colombia - The Arhuaco are closely attached to their surrounding nature and the physical space and nature has a fundamental role in the their cosmovision. Taking care and maintaining the sacred Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is considered a
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