Wiwa

One of the unexpected highlights of the Cuidad Perdida trek was having the opportunity meet people from the Sierra Nevada's indigenous communities.

These ancient lands belong to them, and everyone visiting the city does so at their invitation.

But why risk the disruption of tourism? Because they have a message for us...

We met a leader from the Wiwa community, one of four ethnic groups living in the area, and descendants of the Tayrona people who built the city.

The Wiwa worship the sun and the moon. Mother Nature (Pachamama) is the driving force in their lives and they're seeing the impact of climate change every day.

For the Wiwas, balance is everything. Male and female, light and dark. They never take from nature without giving something back.

We gathered to listen to the community leader who told us Mother Nature was in crisis, asking us to help to restore balance. 

Sitting in a quiet circle in the middle of the jungle listening to a softly spoken man speak so plainly about climate change felt a world away from noisy, angry debate that's swirling around us.

His was a simple, authentic testimony. Less impassioned, more a cool, calm and dignified request for change.

It's said that the message is in the method. 

The Wiwa are an introspective community, where meditation and what we'd describe as mindfulness are part of everyday life. 

When a boy reaches 18, he is presented with a poporo. This is a device which he carries with him everyday throughout his life.

The Wiwa men chew coca leaves that they carry in a small bag (and greet each other by placing leaves into each other's bags). Chewing the leaves helps them to keep active in their work and during long sessions of meditation.

Inside the tube of the poporo is a white powder made from shells they grind down in a firing process. They chew the coca leaves, dip the stick of the poporo into the tube with the powder and use the mix of powder and spittle to inscribe their thoughts and feelings into the top of the poporo, which gets a kind of white bulbous head over time.

It's said that the poporo represents the man's partner, and that he inscribes his thoughts so they’re kept for her, and not lost to the wind.

All the indigenous men I saw on the trek carried a poporo and I saw many of them inscribing onto it as they walked.

When a Wiwa woman comes of age, she is presented with a spindle, which represents the universe. Weaving is a meditative activity for women, as they spin, they're said to weave positive thoughts and feelings into the garments, bracelets and bags they produce.

I'm going to resist the temptation to dip into gender politics here (!) in an effort to focus on what lessons we can learn from the Wiwa's quiet, meditative approach to life.

The climate emergency has become an embittered battleground, it's shouty, accusatory and bad tempered. 

Noise is necessary. Anger is necessary. Action is necessary. But in the midst of the noise, anger and action, we'd do well to stop to listen to the quiet voices on the front line. 

Shouting so loudly on their behalf so that it's no longer possible to hear them is folly.

We need to amplify their stories, not drown them out.