Colombia – Sierra Nevada de Santa Maria
SIERRA NEVADA DE SANTA MARIA
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is the highest mountain massif in Colombia, at the end of the Andes. It is in this unique and uncontaminated place that the last indigenous tribes live: the Arhuaco, the Wiwa, the Kogi and the Kankuamo. Four distinct peoples but united by indissoluble bonds. For the natives, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is the heart of the world. It is surrounded by an invisible “black line” that embraces the sacred sites of the ancestors and demarcates the territory. However there are no boundaries in their conception of existence where energy flows fluidly between bodies and souls in perfect harmony. The Mamo, spiritual leaders, curators and councilors, restore the harmony of everything when the balance breaks. At the basis of their living there is a sense of peace and spirituality. Lakes, rivers, hills and mountains are incarnations of gods and creators. This is why the sense of fraternity transcends what is merely human and merges with nature, in a whole that seems so simple.