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The Tairona
Heritage Trust

Latest Updates

Jose Manuel Mamatacan's visit to London

Jose Manuel Mamatacan's visit to London

In November 2022 the Trust presented the Kogi project Munekan Masha at the public launch of UNESCO-BRIDGES at  the University of Wales, Trinity St David in Swansea.  A Kogi, Jose Manuel Mamatacan, spoke there.  He had been trained as am emissary by the Mamas.

Learn more about his visit to London by watching a talk that Alan Ereira gave to the Learning Planet Festival. 

Click on the button below to watch the video.

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Reviving Water Project: Field work report, July 2022

Reviving Water Project: Field work report, July 2022

In July 2022, the Tairona Heritage Trust team, accompanied by two environmental scientists, Ingrid Olivares and Rodrigo Camara Leret, visited the Kogi in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia. 

The purpose of their visit was to conduct field work necessary for the preparation of the Munekan Masha: Reviving Water in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta project. 

You can read the full field work report by clicking here

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Munekan Masha: Reviving Water in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

Munekan Masha: Reviving Water in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

Introducing the "Munekan Masha: Reviving Water in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta" project!

This ground-breaking project will bring together non-indigenous scientists and the Kogi Mamas who will lead the work in the restoring and regenerating degraded and environmentally damaged land, flora and fauna in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia. They are working to share their knowledge-systems at a specially-chosen location in the north face of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta where the Mamas are working to revive damaged and desiccated ancestral land.

The project aims to bring indigenous knowledge and “mainstream” science together for better and more inclusive climate solutions. 

Click the button below to read more about the project's work so far and to find out how you can help!

 

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August 2021 Newsletter

August 2021 Newsletter

We are sorry for the long delay in letting you know how the donations you made last year have been spent but it has taken a long while to get a full report back from OGT due to a reorganisation following the death of Santos Sauna and the election of their new Cabildo Arregoces Conchacala. 

This newsletter includes the latest updates on:

  • the Food Campaign, an Emergency Response in 2020;
  • a series of four meetings proposed across the Kogi Communities and their results;
  • the acquisition of computers and Internet installation;
  • the acquisition of materials and utensils for 20 Kogi families in Maldaka affected by fire In March 2021.
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Mission Statement

The mission of the Trust is to magnify the Kogis’ voice, to help them defend their culture, to assist in the recovery of their ancestral territory and to learn from them how to better protect the planet which we all share.

The Kogi are descendants of the Tairona and are the last surviving civilization from the world of the Inca and Aztec.

They are an indigenous people who consider themselves to be the guardians of the earth and are worried by our attempts to destroy it.

The mountain - in Colombia - is their home, it is quite literally a microcosmos, a mirror of the planet on which every ecological zone is represented. The impact of the modern world is affecting their environment and from their vantage point on the mountain they can see how this is damaging the rest of the planet.

The Trust needs your help to support this mission.


The Films

From The Heart of the World: The Elder Brother's Warning

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Watch the first film made by Alan Ereira and the BBC in 1990 about the ancient Kogi civilisation from the Sierra Nevada De Santa Marta, Colombia.

Aluna:
The Movie

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The follow up film was made 25 years later at the request of the Kogi Mamas because they said we had not heard them the first time.

In their own words

The Great Mother taught and taught.  The Great Mother is what we needed to live and her teaching has not been forgotten right up to this day.  We all still live by it. 

Joe Bloggs

Our Objectives

1

We will offer the Kogi a voice

We will offer the Kogi a way to communicate directly with the wider world.

Our Objectives

2

We will protect the environment of the Kogi

We will respond to, and publicise, requests by the Kogi for help in protecting their territory and culture.

Our Objectives

3

We will learn from the Kogi

We will learn from the Kogi about their understanding of environmental management and publicise that knowledge through all media.

Our Objectives

4

To educate the next generation

We will implement initiatives to educate young people about the principles and way of life of the Kogi in order to protect the planet for future generations.

News

Support Us

The Kogi message is important for us all. They consider themselves to be the guardians of the earth and are worried by our attempts to destroy it. They want their voice and knowledge to be heard around the world and for us to take action to protect the planet that we all share. 

The Kogi need your help to do this.

DONATE