The Nɨpodɨmakɨ People of the Colombian Amazon - The People of the Center

"In order to live well, we, The Nɨpodɨmakɨ People of the Colombian Amazon, have been caring for the land and forest with ‘pareka uai’ – with the word and the wisdom of the sweet manioc plant."

"We are the ‘People of the Center’, The Nɨpodɨmakɨ, and we have nurtured our land and our air with our word of caring and the word of love."

 

"But the [white men] have been doing terrible harm – they must stop contaminating."

"We take care of our ancestral land, watching over it from our own territory."

"We have been looking after the world since time immemorial."

"The air of this earth is warming. The animals are being finished off, our people are getting sickness. Today we are experiencing unruly seasons."

"We are telling you this fgrom our own experience, therefore we have to fix this properly and soon."

"We take care of the high forest (the Natikɨ). How will you support our knowledge and our forest?"

"We have been caring for our lands, but there has been nothing to support us or help us secure what we need."

"We propose that together with you we will solve this properly."

 

"This is the word that we send to you all – how will you receive our message?"