Hello, today is International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples,
so started off the letter that had me stirred, touched and thinking.
Their ancestors survived from hunting, fishing, and gathering.
Today that humble existence, that lifestyle is impossible.
They bemoan greed which they say comes at the expense
of the health of their forests. Are their forests not furious?
They lament the environmental destruction visited upon them.
That is not the life their ancestors wanted for them as Indigenous
peoples, or so goes the impassioned letter that I received today.
Today I received a touching epistle from the Awajún community
in the heart of Peruvian Amazon.
In their language ‘ikam’ means ‘rainforest’, and they have
lived from the ikam, the land, and the clean water of the river
as hunters, fishers and gatherers. Nature is life for them.
Without nature they would not exist, so goes their missive
that I received today.
The letter says today, all life in the rainforest is under threat
By virtue of people who enter their communities to log and mine,
and in the process end up poisoning their rivers with mercury
to make a profit.
Today, didn’t I read, pause, ponder and visualize their plight,
the people’s greed, and the tears of the Amazonian rainforest?
All they seek is to protect their forest, to rescue
species and traditional plants, so that they can continue
their way of life and culture.
Today, I received a moving message that also reminded
me of the plight and blight of the San groups—
the Indigenous peoples of Southern Africa.
Today is International Day
of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.
