'We are a force for life': how Indigenous wisdom helped rescue children lost in the Amazon

[Judi Lynn]

Nearly 100 members of Colombia’s Indigenous communities helped search for four children lost in the jungle for 40 days

Luke Taylor and Mat Youkee in Bogotá
Fri 16 Jun 2023 06.00 EDT

As they searched the trackless expanse of the Colombian Amazon for four lost Indigenous children, military rescue teams were well prepared for the seemingly hopeless task: high-resolution satellite technology helped them find the site where the light plane carrying the youngsters had crashed, and years of war with rebel groups meant the soldiers were used to operating in difficult terrain. But technology only gets you so far in the Amazon.

“We could see the leaves of the trees perfectly, but we did not know what was underneath them. That’s why everything that was found was by land. It was step by step – finding different pieces of evidence that were impossible for some to see,” Gen Pedro Sánchez, who oversaw the military operation, told reporters.

So to see the otherwise unseeable, President Gustavo Petro appealed to Colombia’s Indigenous communities to help find the children, aged between one and 13 years old, who were rescued a week ago after 40 days in the jungle.

Ninety-three people from Indigenous communities across the country – including members of the Siona, Nasa, Huitoto, Sikuani, Misak, Murui and Koreguaje peoples – were flown into the southern jungles to assist the 120 soldiers in searching for the children, said Luis Acosta, head of Colombia’s Indigenous guard.The volunteers’ efforts have since been praised by the military, who say their familiarity with forest conditions was vital in finding the children in time.

“It was the combination of our Indigenous knowledge with western knowhow, that’s how we got this result,” said Acosta, who coordinated the Indigenous response. “If it weren’t for our ancestral understanding of the forest – its medicinal properties, its life and its spirits – we would not have found the kids when we did.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/16/indigenous-wisdom-colombia-amazon-children-rescue

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[mountain grammy]

1. Amazing story..

I do hope this raises awareness for the indigenous tribes in the Amazon. They do have a power.

“I hope people realise that we are not guerrillas and we are not interested in war. We are a force for life and protectors of Mother Earth,” Acosta says.

[Bayard]

2. Bravo!