Sacred Music Mixes

Back from Pevas

We arrived safely from our 9 day filming trip on the Ampiyacu river near the city of Pevas. We visited five different Amazonian communites, heard four distinct tribal languages (one of them, Ricigaro has less than 5 people in the community who speak it), and saw how each community has been able to hold on to their unique customs while living so close to other tribes. One village had a line drawn down the middle--one side spoke Bora and the other side spoke Huitodo which apparently sound nothing alike. Fascinating. We also visited the tribal elders in each community and were able to record their songs, which were unlike anything I´ve heard before.

There is a lot to be excited about in these communities and a lot of what we were expecting. Everyone is talking about oil companies coming in and wondering what their approach should be when they start offering these depressed communities large sums of money for access to their lands and waters. All of the shamans we meet at least in their 60´s and so far, we haven´t seen any apprentices to pass on their traditions. We are hoping that our presence has been able to show them that the outside world is interesting in hearing more, that these things are worth saving.

Ever bit of our trip has been so well-documented by our talented team, but unfortunately Iquito´s finest internet cafe does not have computers that read RAW files (big professional photographer files), so I may not be able to get any pictures up until after I get back home. I´ll start pestering Phil to upload some of his pictures.

We are going to spend two days recording the beautiful songs of our shaman friend Cesar during his ayahuasca ceremonies. He actually came with us as a guide on our trip and after spending so much time with him, I am just amazed by what a powerful, angelic man he is. I have never seen someone rest so fully, jump to action so readily when he is needed, and laugh so hard when our other guide Ramon´s hammock fell from its post with him in it. Spending time with him has been one of the highlights of the trip for me and I cant wait to share his healing songs with you all. There is talk of him coming to the States soon.

As always, there is more I´d like to say but there is work to be done. The day is hot and busy outside and its always interesting to think of ourselves in the city of 400,000 people that is buried within all this greenness. It makes me feel really small and young before it all--a kind of reverence with a smile in its eyes.

Abrazos,
Gracy

The Bora people

Iquiteños

I am writing on a rainy night from ¨Cyber,¨an internet cafe in the plaza de armas of Iquitos. All the buildings are shabby with tall ceilings--reminders of the elegance of the rubber boom. Young children roam the streets selling beaded bracelets and little boxes of gum that loses its flavor in less than 5 minutes. There is a constant hum from the swarms of motorcycles and mototaxis that navigate the streets (many of which are named after nearby rivers) and any car that cuts across theon the road looks like an instant predator.

The trip is off to a successful start. After two weeks filming the effects of the Interoceanic highway in Madre de Dios, Rebecca and Ryan arrived in Iquitos this weekend and were reunited with Laura, who has been here for over a month studying plant medicines. Phil and I flew into Lima on Sunday night and spend a day trying to navigate Lima´s chaotic transportation system and finally getting a meeting with the communications director of Peru´s indigenous movement, AIDESEP, who told us essentially that South American countries are biding their time by selling the rights to these tracks of land between themselves and the people of the jungle are prepared to take up arms against anyone who tries to invade their land.

We leave tomorrow for 10 days to travel by overnight river boat to Pevas and from there we will travel to a town farther up river to ask permission to attend a meeting of tribal leaders to discuss the problem of encroaching oil prospectors. Our guides will be Walter, the son of the nearby Bora tribe, and Cesar, a trusted shaman who we have known for years. They have assured us that by accompanying us we will be accepted by the tribal leaders, so for now we can only hope for the best.

Even in the city we have been able to record the songs and dances of the Bora people and a few amazing local shamans. So many people warn us that we need to be careful here are there are many shamans who cater to travelers just to make money and are not working for the best interest of the jungle and her medicines. We are lucky that we have been able to witness the work of these talented shamans who have been able to use these plants to develop their intuitions and healing powers.

It´s good to be back in Peru and its different pace of life. I love the sing-song accent of the people here and the few times we have been able to escape the city to quiet, verdant jungle. We hope these next 10 days will be full of songs, stories and a few safe adventures.

Thanks to everyone who has donated to ¨Spirit Songs.¨Your donations are being used for equipment, transportation costs, and to pay our local guides.

We will update again after we return from our trek.

With love,
Gracy

Gracy unearthed these thoughts from a previous trip to Peru:

"we are lovers and dreamers because we become like the water in the constant pursuit of moving and shaking what the universe has bestowed upon us in its perfect dicition of saturday afternoon picnics. we refuse to stagnate, withdraw, give-up, escape for more than a few hours at a time. we see life for the process and have always loved happiness for its sexy elusiveness. in turn, we have learned to love her twin sister of heartbreak and how it comes to leave us a different person, knowing more about beauty and kindness than we thought possible. we believe in: dancing as prayer, chewing slowing, asking questions and listening to the answers, impromptu morning mass on deserted mountain tops, delirious gratitude, homemade bread, riveting conversation, and cups of tea when the moment requires rest. we are not afraid of change, our bodies, getting older, technology, confusion, bursts of anger, or the elusiveness of everything we seek. we have learned to sit still to see that which reaches beyond us and connects every single part of this world. by seeing the connection, we finally know there is no more need to fight. we are fed by each other, lessons learned, children´s sticky faces, treetops waving in the breeze, and above all, the love that loves to love us. we tough it out, we change, and we will change this world through consideration, compost piles of ideas, and a willingness to laugh in the face of anything that seems too big, too closed, or too difficult. we make loving look good..."

Peru: Colombian state oil company set to enter uncontacted tribal lands

Colombia's state oil company Ecopetrol is set to enter territory inhabited by some of the world's last uncontacted indigenous peoples in the Peruvian Amazon under an agreement reached this week. Ecopetrol signed a deal with Brazil's state oil company, Petrobras, which has a contract to explore in two regions—both inhabited by uncontacted tribes.

"Through its affiliate in Perú, Ecopetrol entered into two agreements with Petrobras Energía del Perú, S.A. to acquire shared [sic] in two exploration and production blocks in Perú," reads a statement from Ecopetrol. "In the first block (Lot 110), Ecopetrol will have a 50% share. In the second (Lot 117), the company's holding will be 25%."

Lot 110 covers almost all of a reserve supposedly set aside for uncontacted Murunahua bands who are exceedingly vulnerable to any contact with outsiders because of their lack of immunity to disease. Some Murunahua have already been contacted by illegal loggers; an estimated 50% of them were wiped out as a result.

Secoya and Kichua also inhabit the territory along the Napo and Putumayo rivers, in the north of municipal province Maynas, Loreto region. The lands in question are part of the Güeppí Reserve, officially put aside as a protected area in 1997. Lot 117 also includes part of a proposed reserve for uncontacted indigenous peoples. The creation of the reserve is supported by local Organización Regional de Pueblos Indígenas del Oriente (ORPIO) and national Amazonian indigenous organization AIDESEP.

The deal with Ecopetrol comes immediately after representatives from indigenous communities said they would not allow Petrobras to explore in Lot 117. "Yet again President Garcia's government is ignoring the International Labour Organization's Convention 169 and the United Nation's Declaration on Indigenous Rights," said AIDESEP's president, Alberto Pizango, on the decision to allow Petrobras to work in the region.

Survival International director Stephen Corry said: "It's possible Ecopetrol don’t know what they’re letting themselves in for: the land they’ve just agreed to explore is inhabited by uncontacted tribes. By working there, Ecopetrol will break international law and violate the rights of some of the most vulnerable people on earth." (Survival International, UK, March 20; Radio La Voz de la Selva, March 20 via Coordinadora Nacional de Radio-CNR, Peru)

Submitted by WW4 Report on Tue, 03/24/2009 - 01:42.

Julio

Ryan and I have been in Puerto Maldonado, a city in the Southern Peruvian Amazon, for over a week now --- yet hardly anyone has heard a peep from us. The story of our first time meeting Julio Cusurichi, a leader in the indigenous rights movement here, might help explain our mysterious disappearance.

But I want to preface it with a little context. I lived in Peru for a year in 2004, and one lesson about this culture that has saved me some pain is: the people here value flexiblity in their lives. Which means they might not get back to you right away -- or ever. Things happen and they prioritize on a day-to-day basis. I love this lesson of staying in the moment, even though on my frustrated days, I also call it inefficiency and disorganized.

That said, Julio Cusurichi is unlike any Peruvian I´ve ever met.

The day we flew in, Ryan and I found a hotel and then immediately set out to find Julio at his house. His wife said he was at a meeting and didn´t know when he would be back. That was on a Friday afternoon, so Ryan and I went back to the hotel and started to take a nap, thinking we wouldn´t see him til Monday.

An hour later, there was a knock on our door. There was Julio. He was wearing a vest with indigenous design, which told me quite a bit about him immediately. In many small towns in Peru, if you are wearing a fisherman-looking utility vest -- the ones with a bunch of pockets, you must be someone important, like an engineer. Julio´s vest symbolizes exactly what he is. It´s a white, calming color vest with lines connecting splashes of color together .

That´s Julio.

Even more that....Julio coming to seek us out told me that he really believed in his cause. Not everyone would make an extra trip on a Friday afternoon, when most people here (and many parts of the world) leave a little early from work.

We spoke lightly in our hotel about the work that he is doing here, but I was really not prepared to see his reality.

Julio told us to come to his house at 4am the next morning because they were about to aire the first indigenous radio program at 5am on Radio Aurora. It´s a local radio station housed in the back of a small bodega.

The radio hosts were three energetic and nervous journalism students: Juan, Celia and Marissa. They were all going through a program that Julio initiated to train indigenous people to become journalists and show the world firsthand what´s going on here. They are learning everything from video editing to radio programming.

Ultimately, Julio believes the new weapon of the indigenous rights´movement is information. It makes me feel empowered to be a storyteller and walk among these warriors.

One thing Julio talked on the program was the effects of the InterOceanic Highway, the highway that runs from Brazil to Peru and cuts straight through the Amazon. It has been a 10-year project that is set to be completed this year.

¨Globalization is a word that´s used to explain the expansion of the highways here and exportation. It´s good in theory, but in practice it´s something different. How can they build a highway in our country without reaching out to the public, training them in modern ways and finding an international market for our products? Without doing this, the highway will only benefit the loggers and exporters.¨

That day was an 18-hour day with Julio ---- going from that radio show, a workshop on how to improve local economy in the indigenous communities, an interview with local celebrity Domingo Marquez and then to his TV news program, and finally a meeting to protest a judge who had just been appointed after spending five years in jail for corruption.

At the radio station, he handed me a schedule, which consisted of a list of meetings he was hosting that week. It also had about five interviews that he set up for us, all on Friday night after we spoke. In this week, Ryan and I have already visited two communities, one three hours away by canoe and one three hours down the InterOceanic highway. We´ve met so many incredibly strong, honest and dedicated movers, which we will continue to write about.

If you have any desire to come and meet Julio, I´d recommend it. It´s amazing here, and we´ll continue to tell you why in these next blog entries.

Much love,

Rebecca