INTerview with Mariana Rivera Uribe by Tamara Blazquez Haik
IMAGES BY MARIANA RIVERA URIBE
WORDS BY TAMARA BLAZQUEZ HAIK
EDITED BY CHRISTINE PICKERING
Portrait of Mariana Rivera Uribe by Juan Cristobal Cobo.
Mariana Rivera has always felt a connection to nature. From collecting crickets and lizards in jars to filling entire books with flower petals, and volunteering with an organization that protects whale sharks in the Philippines, nature has always been her inspiration as well as her purpose. Through her work, Mariana has explored new ways in which images, nature and emotions have the living force to raise consciousness, transforming our views on the inner and outer world, and how our daily actions impact ourselves, others and the planet.
Mariana has a BA in Biology, along with 15 years of experience in photography and a Diploma in Documentary Filmmaking from the New York Film Academy in Gold Coast, Australia. She has worked as a filmmaker and photographer for the Saving the Amazon Foundation, Alexander von Humboldt Research Institute, the Colombian Ocean Commission, National Parks of Colombia, and others. Currently, Mariana works as the Assistant to the Commission on Ecosystem Management at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and is also the co-founder, director and executive producer at Coral Studio, a conservation and underwater studio focused on raising awareness about the importance of protecting nature through photography and filmmaking.
Her project, “Decolonize the Land to Decolonize the Mind,” awarded her PWB’s Revolutionary Storyteller Grant in 2022. In this project, Mariana shares the efforts of the Muysca Fowe community, one of Colombia’s remaining Indigenous communities, in leading a movement to liberate the territories they inhabit from colonial exploitation.
According to Mariana, “this process of liberation is being done through a pedagogical process of relearning our connection with the Earth.” The Muysca (meaning “people” in the Muyscubun language), an ancient Indigenous civilization native to Colombia, see this decolonization of both the mind and the land as only possible through alternative education systems and a permanent dialogue with the surrounding nature.
“For them, everything is Muysca, everything is people, and rebuilding our relationship with the people-land, the people-river, the people-trees and all beings who share the planet with us is the first step to relearn what has been lost throughout centuries of separation from our true self.”
Rebuilding and rekindling a friendship with Buntkua, the leader of the Muysca community Mariana had worked with before starting her project, was one of the biggest inspirations for her to create “Decolonize the Land to Decolonize the Mind.” During the following interview, Mariana shared all of the details about her storytelling project with PWB.
During an ambira ceremony (a black paste used to exchange words and make important decisions for the community), the elder Atabanzha cleanses the energy of the chunzua (the sacred house of governance) while a young Muysca man stirs the mixture in a pot.
What was your inspiration to start the “Decolonize the Land to Decolonize the Mind” project?
“Everything is Muysca, everything is people, and rebuilding our relationship with the people-land, the people-river, the people-trees and all beings who share the planet with us is the first step to relearn what has been lost throughout centuries of separation from our true self.”
I met Buntkua, the leader of the Muysca community I am working with, over 10 years ago while volunteering with an NGO he had at that time that aimed to connect people with Indigenous knowledge while also supporting Indigenous communities in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, in Colombia. I volunteered with his NGO for three weeks, and since then, it was evident that we had similar passions and purposes. We remained friends after that, but I then moved from Colombia and we lost contact until 2021 when, through a friend, we met once again.
The first thing Buntkua told me when I told him it was unbelievable how life had brought us together again was, “that is because we still have something that is pending,” and this really hit me. I am now convinced that this was true. We reconnected and have remained close friends ever since.
A portrait of Buntkua Yari Maku, leader of the Fowe Muysca community.
“The first thing Buntkua told me when I told him it was unbelievable how life had brought us together again was, ‘that is because we still have something that is pending’... I am now convinced that this was true. ”
During this time, we spent long hours speaking about the movement of liberating land from extractive and industrial purposes in order to allow Mother Earth to recover and be what she is meant to be, freely. We spoke a lot about coming up with a project, a campaign, a film, etc, to share the ancestral knowledge and the process the Muysca have been leading to go back to the way their ancestors lived, where the respect and care of oneself, one's community, and one's territory is the most important thing.
The process the Muysca Fowe community (fowe meaning “fox”) is leading is not only about liberating the land, but also about liberating ourselves, our minds, our conditioning and our habits which seem natural to us now from our colonial heritage and indoctrination which is still present in our daily lives.
Four Muysca members walk down from the lagoon back to their community. What used to be sacred Muysca land is today owned by private owners and is mostly used for extensive cattle-farming and agriculture. This is putting at risk the health of the ecosystem and the lagoons due to the large amount of fertilizers and chemicals used.
This means that first we must liberate and decolonize our minds and bodies in order to then act to liberate the land. Through colonization, we were made to believe that we are not sons and daughters of Mother Earth, that we do not depend on her and vice versa, and we have forgotten to listen to her. The Muysca Fowe community believes that this process of colonization was only possible through the disconnection to the Earth, through what they describe as the “cutting of the umbilical cord” which kept us connected to Mother Earth. Therefore, now we are lost and confused since we have lost our sense of origin and connection.
This was the main inspiration for me to develop this project, having the good fortune to have spent time with Buntkua, his family and the community, and understanding that it is not possible to do real nature conservation if we don't first look inside and reconnect with our true selves in order to reconnect with nature.
“First we must liberate and decolonize our minds and bodies in order to then act to liberate the land. ”
Can you give us some background on what is happening to the water and land in Colombia? How has this affected the Muysca people?
Colombia's main source of energy is hydropower, and unfortunately, this gift of having so much water has also been a curse for many. Even though we have been told that water is a renewable source of energy, hydroelectricity and the use of water for certain activities such as mining have huge negative impacts on the ecosystems.
The natural flows of rivers are interrupted to build dams, preventing species from fulfilling their natural reproductive cycles, valleys are flooded to build dams, and rivers are diverted from their natural courses, leaving entire communities without access to water. This has even led to the death of hundreds of people when water is diverted for private usage (in mining, for example), as it is in the Amazon and the Guajira Desert, which is home to the largest open sky coal mine in the world.
Likewise, gold mining in places like the Amazon and the Choco rainforest on the west coast of Colombia (two of the most biodiverse regions in the world), has led to the pollution of rivers, causing the death of thousands of animals and local communities who use these rivers to drink, wash and bathe. The water in these rivers is now non-potable, and the fish are contaminated with mercury and other heavy metals making them inedible for humans.
This is a common story in many communities, and for the Muysca, it is not that different. The Muysca Fowe community lives in the vicinity of the Páramo de Chingaza, a unique ecosystem known for its richness in lagoons, rivers and abundance of water, which is the primary source of water for 80% of the population in Bogotá, Colombia's capital.
The Muysca have been protectors of this territory long before the Spanish conquistadors came to America, and they used to use this metal, as well as other sacred elements, to make offerings into the lakes and lagoons—the sacred womb of Mother Earth.
Today, the mountains of Chingaza are divided mainly into a national park and into private land for the aqueduct, both of which have restricted access to the public, including the Muysca. This means, just as for many Indigenous peoples around the world, that access to their native lands and the possibility to carry out their ancestral traditions has been limited due to the privatization of their original territories, neglecting their history, traditions and identity as a community in their own land.
Currently, there are plans to flood a valley in the Páramo de Chingaza to turn it into a dam which represents a threat to the original and unique ecosystem, and this will be done with no consultation with the communities that have protected these territories for centuries.
“The Muysca Fowe community believes that this process of colonization was only possible through the disconnection to the Earth, through what they describe as the ‘cutting of the umbilical cord’ which kept us connected to Mother Earth. ”
How was your experience living and working alongside the Muysca people?
It has been one of the most inspiring and gratifying experiences of my life. Having the privilege to share and learn from them, from the way they understand the world, nature and our purpose on this planet is absolutely inspiring.
It has led me to question a lot of the actions, behaviours and beliefs I never even asked myself, and it has opened my eyes for me to live and act in ways that are much more conscious of the impact this has had both on myself and on others.
The act of offering, for example, is something I have adopted in my daily life, and which serves as a reminder that I am not alone in this world, that I am here thanks to so many other beings which make this possible every day.
Offerings can look like something as simple as giving a bit of your food to the Earth, to singing and dancing while harvesting or cooking, as an act of surrendering and expressing gratitude towards Mother Earth, or even as a spiritual practice of giving all the grief, sadness, anger and built up emotions to a small thread of cotton which is later on offered to the Earth to transform and be cleaned.
An offering made during the “Correr la Tierra” (Run the Earth) ceremony.
It has also been an incredible experience to share and to be vulnerable with others, where it doesn't matter how much is in your bank account, or what your job position is, but what is in your heart and what you are willing to offer to Mother Earth.
I am constantly in awe of the devotion and commitment the community has to their purpose of going back to ways of living where the most important thing is the respect and caring of nature. By growing only what is native to the land, understanding the cycles of the sun and the moon, and constantly cleansing the mind, the body, the word and even the intention is crucial in this process of decolonization. Through storytelling, the Muysca have taught me there is much more to life than what I thought, and therefore, this is my way to repay them for all they, as well as Mother Earth, have taught me during this time.
“Offerings can look like something as simple as giving a bit of your food to the Earth, to singing and dancing while harvesting or cooking, as an act of surrendering and expressing gratitude towards Mother Earth...”
Any future projects you have in mind that you would like to share with PWB’s audience?
During the last year, Danielle Khan Da Silva and I developed a photography workshop along with Buntkua and the Wiwa community in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, where our main goal was to question a lot of the ways we do photography and storytelling, as well as using photography as a tool to create a tangible impact in the world.
Lorenzo and Saga, two members of the Wiwa community in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, standing outside their home.
I hope we can continue developing this project, because it was a very inspiring adventure and I was able to see a huge transformation in the students, which reinforced in me even more the idea that photography and storytelling can be incredibly powerful tools to create change within us while supporting the causes of others.
I am also finishing a documentary film on the importance of communities having their voices heard when it comes to their territories, which will be launched in December of 2023.
Quotes have been edited for clarity and flow.
Mariana’s “Decolonize the Land to Decolonize the Mind” intends to support an ongoing campaign to liberate between 400 to 600 hectares of land in the highlands near Bogotá and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, near the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Here the Muysca and Arhuaco Indigenous communities strive to protect the land while serving as an example of living in harmony with nature. They are liberating their lands, minds and bodies from colonization.
This story was created with the support of Aesop and our Revolutionary Storyteller Grant. Support Indigenous communities in the Sierra Nevada to protect their land and safeguard their culture by building an ancestral education centre in Colombia.
To learn more about Mariana’s work, visit her website.
