Koguis

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The Kogi or Kogui amerindian people live in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia. They are one of the few surviving pockets of indigenous peoples of Pre-Columbian South America, being descendants of the Tairona Civilization, which was flourishing at the time of the Spanish conquest; they have been isolated on their mountain for generations. Their mythology says they are the ‘Elder Brothers’ of humanity, living in the 'Center of the World' (the mountain), while the people of the West are ‘Younger Brother’ (as they call non-amerindians) was sent away from the center of the world long ago, but having now found their way back there they are destroying both it and the whole world.

While the Kogi base their lifestyles on working with ‘The Great Mother’ -nature, but more than nature; originator, creator, sustainer; material and spiritual…- in ignorance ‘younger brother’ works against her. The Kogi’s experience the earth as a living being, and see the colonizers' mining, building pollution and other activities to be damaging to the Great Mother. From birth the Kogi’s attune their priests, the Mamos to the Imaginable world, Aluna, and it is in this "spirit-realm" that the Mamos operate to help the Great Mother sustain the earth. Through deep meditation and symbolic, almost magical offerings, the Mamos join in supporting the balance of harmony and creativity in the world. It is also in this realm that the essence of agriculture is nurtured: seeds are blessed in Aluna before being planted, to ensure they grow properly.

The Kogi people live largely in peace amongst themselves and their environment, with something of an austere but beautiful economy; they follow swidden farming methods, each family tending farms at varying altitudes of the Sierra, producing different crops to satisfy the range of their needs. Their community is closely knit around the wise Mamos, with the people considering themselves vassals for carrying the great work of them.

In 1990, having seen evidence on their mountain to suggest massive worldwide ecological damage, the Kogi’s sent a message to the word via a Lampeter University archaeologist- …- filmed in partnership with the BBC. The Kogis gave a warning to the "Younger Brothers":

...the world doesn’t have to end; it could go on; but unless we stop violating the earth and nature, depleting The Great Mother of her material energy, her organs, her vitality; unless people stop working against the great mother, the world will not last.-Kogis