The Original People
Original people are those considered to be the earliest settlers of a region, who over millennia have gained their wisdom from living in respectful relationship with the land. For them, the land provides not only food and water but sacred knowledge that is passed-down from generation to generation. In honour of this great gift, original people stand in guardianship over the land, protecting and preserving its sacredness as part of their ancestral traditions and way of life.
The Amazon rainforest is truly magnificent, spanning Ecuador, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela, each of these regions having long-provided a home for many original communities. Now, with the arrival of the modern world, they have been forced to adapt their old ways to the new. However, these isolated communities are often forgotten by their governments, given no guidance or resources to sustain their future in a modern world. Accessing educational resources and medical care are some of the biggest barriers they face. You may say that this is their choice, wishing to maintain a traditional way of life, but what would the world look like without original communities in place?
Guardians of the Amazon
As a result of deforestation, climate change and fires, the Amazon rainforest is in rapid decline. Since 1978, it has lost 185 million acres of habitat. Should this continue, it is predicted that the rainforest will be lost forever by 2064. With each passing day, many forest ecosystems are being irreversibly damaged or lost, now pushing the Amazon and our global climate to the point of crisis. Slowing the decline are the Guardians of the Amazon, the original people who stand on the front-line to face the many threats to their lands: big companies extracting oil, gas, wood, gold, copper and diamonds; poachers stealing rare animals and plants; ranchers and farmers taking land for cattle-grazing and growing cash-crops. Faced with land-theft, oil spills, pollution, loss of wildlife and acts of violence, some pay the ultimate price with their lives as they fight for their rights and their voices to be heard. Their once harmonious and peaceful way of life is now lost and under attack, battling against the advances of the modern world.
The Kurikindi Foundation wishes to create a bridge between the ways of the original people and the modern world. One that does not impose its own motives on marginalised communities, but instead creates a united agenda where all people are valued. An agenda that provides fair and equal access to resources for all people, where knowledge and wisdom is shared, both traditional and modern. A dialogue that respects the sovereignty and ancestral connection original people have with their lands. One which values the lives and contributions of all people, creatures and that of our living, breathing planet.
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