The Amazon is being hacked to death. But the prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor (and a strong new indigenous peoples manifesto) gives hope
“We are the healing of the Earth”. Photo: Roani Institute, Brazil and Awasqa website
A great piece in the new UK journalism start-up, The Correspondent, from two old colleagues of ours - Felipe Viveroz, and Alnoor Ladha, ex- of The Rules, and now on the board of Culture Hack Labs.
Felipe and Alnoor’s work, in their own words, “explores alternative narratives as a way to balance or resist mainstream discourse”. Their focus here is on the Amazon and its indigenous communities. The Amazon is not only ecologically vital - drawing 20% of the world’s fresh water through its natural systems - but its human societies are also necessary:
Indigenous peoples, who make up only 4% of the global population, are directly responsible for or oversee more than 80% of the world’s biodiversity. Where Indigenous people steward land, we find evidence of richer biodiversity and healthier ecosystems. These benefits are often sustained in Indigenous communities by deep appreciation and respect for the needs of other species, which then further contributes to what scientists call positive feedback loops.
We know about the Brazilian president Bolsonaro’s direct threat to the Amazon - but the writers’ extend the culpabilty to other countries in the Amazonos region, including Ecuador, Venezuela, Suriname, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Guyana, and French Guiana).
Vivera and Ladha’s interest is to find the alternatve narrative to all this - something so powerful that it reframes the reality of all the actors in the situation. In the passages below, they tell us of a new indigenous-peoples manifesto, and of a startlingly prescient tribal prophecy:
The Piaraçu Manifesto
In January 2020, representatives from more than 45 Indigenous communities gathered in the small village of Piaraçu in the Xingu Basin of the Amazon. Their meeting, attended by 600 participants, was convened by Chief Raoni, legendary chief of the Kayapo people who has been nominated for the 2020 Nobel Peace prize. We had the honour of joining this meeting as delegates from an international group of media and civil society organisations.
Over the course of four days, participants came together to share their sacred songs, dances and ancient stories. In the face of imminent catastrophe, their contributions to this historic event combined in a vibrant celebration of living memory, weaving together the threads of rainforest cultures into a sophisticated tapestry. By the close of the meeting, Indigenous leaders had drafted the Piaraçu Manifesto, a collective statement of resistance.
The four-page document makes clear that the Brazilian government’s actions represent genocide, ethnocide and ecocide. It articulates their demands as custodians of the rainforest, to remind the Brazilian government of the critical role for Indigenous peoples in the preservation of the rainforest: “We are the first inhabitants of our country. We do not only defend the environment: we are Nature itself.”
As the Manifesto argues, Indigenous communities across the Amazon are taking action to protect the biome from extractive industries. Their presence is essential to the preservation of indigenous species and the promotion of biodiversity.
The deep attachment and respect of Indigenous peoples, often manifested in their offerings to the land, helps to maintain a culture of balance and reciprocity between humans and the Amazon’s more-than-human world.
This example is a lesson for the world, argues Atossa Soltani, founder of Amazon Watch and a recently created Amazon Emergency Fund:
“What happens in the Amazon affects the entire planet. We cannot allow rich, industrialised nations to continue to push their agenda for economic growth at all costs when the lives of so many humans, and so many other species, are on the line. We know Indigenous stewardship of the land is the only sane response to managing the Amazon before it’s too late,” she says.
Indigenous prophecies
As we pursued our research into alternative narratives, we were struck by the prescience of Indigenous prophecies which presage this moment in the long history of the Amazon.
From interviews with Indigenous leaders, we heard about the prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor, a potent story that permeates the cultures of many First Nations in North and South America.
The prophecy speaks of human society dividing along two paths, following the Eagle (from the North) and the Condor (from the South). The Eagle is a figure for the path of the mind: for rationalism, the industrial, the masculine. The path of the Condor is that of the heart, intuition, connection to the Earth, the feminine.
The Eagle and Condor prophecy tells that the colonisation of Latin America from the 1490s began a period of about 500 years during which the Eagle people would become so powerful that they almost wiped out the Condor people. Then comes the next 500-year period, when the potential would arise for the Eagle and the Condor to come together, to fly in the same sky, creating a new level of consciousness for humanity.
The resonance of this prophecy in our current moment needs no elaboration. We have reached a juncture, the moment where our civilisation will decide if these two attitudes or ways of living can learn from each other.
If we choose to continue on our current path, the western mode of consumption will allow our species only a slight chance of survival. This is a moment when the industrialised nations must begin to discover what can be learned from cultures which exist without destroying the planet.
How do we humble ourselves to those who know what it means to be a companion species on the living Earth?
Given the issues now confronting us – the Amazon Tipping Point, Covid-19, ecological breakdown, a resurgence in the movement for racial justice, the neo-colonialism of global finance and impending economic recession – there couldn’t be a better time to seek a cure.
The logic of our life-destroying culture needs an antidote logic. Our ability to respond, indeed our responsibility to do so, is intertwined with the meaning and potential of prophecy.