By Sandra Peláez (CS Intern)

The Camentsa Shnan Wabuatmeng Indigenous Association is an organization composed of members of the Kamëntsá Peoples—primarily midwives, traditional healers (sobanderas), medicinal knowledge keepers, traditional doctors, and apprentices—both women and men. The Kamëntsá, who refer to themselves as Kamuentsa Ÿentsá, Kamëntšá Biÿá (Peoples of this place, with their own thought and language)—are an Indigenous Peoples living in the Sibundoy Valley, Colombia.

A pillar of their worldview is their relationship with Tsbatsanamamá (Mother Earth), which sustains a constant exchange between nature and the people, treating each entity as a space of wisdom. This worldview fosters an environment of collective well-being while simultaneously assigning responsibilities to the people, such as caring for nature, based on a principle of reciprocity. This duty takes on particular significance in light of the challenges the community and its natural environment have faced in recent years, including monocultures and their impact on the local food system, the effects of climate change, acculturation, the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the neglect of crops.

The Association carried out various activities with the support of the Keepers of the Earth Fund. The primary objective was to address the needs of the people, with a specific emphasis on environmental stewardship. To achieve this, they operated through a traditional organizational system called mingas, known for serving as spaces for the exchange of knowledge, practices, and labor toward a common goal. These mingas are categorized according to their function: mingas of thought, mingas of labor, and formative mingas. In the first category, experiences and reflections regarding lived realities and relevant topics are shared through oral dialogue; the second category consists of workdays during which different families organize themselves through a system of “borrowed hands” to work in a jajañ (a traditional agricultural space). Finally, formative mingas focus on the intergenerational transmission of knowledge and practices. Throughout the mingas, the profound importance of the Kamentsá people’s relationship with Mother Earth became evident, serving as the central thread weaving through the various themes and modalities of the jajañ. Their worldview is grounded in reciprocity, care, and foresight, aimed at achieving collective well-being that ensures the survival of both people and their natural environment.

The thought mingas fostered dialogues centered on themes such as food sovereignty; how to live, identify, and relate to others; our bodies as our territories; and the good life (el buen vivir). During these sessions, participants reflected on these diverse topics—all framed within the context of the local worldview—reaching conclusions regarding the significance of the jajañ, the practice of living together based on horizontal equality, the recognition of community achievements, particularly concerning the role of women, and the specific areas where further work is still required.

Furthermore, work mingas were conducted focusing on agricultural work teams (cuadrillas) and medicinal plants. In the former, embodied knowledge was shared regarding the specific measurements and techniques relevant to the activities carried out within a work team. Instruction was also provided on clearing brush, stripping corn husks, harvesting produce from the jajañ, and determining optimal planting and harvesting times based on lunar phases. Additionally, various forms of communal labor—such as wuacanamiento por chicha (labor exchanged for chicha), chica minga (small-scale communal work), and mano prestada (lending a hand)—were discussed. In the latter minga on medicinal plants, topics were explored regarding the different types of ailments, such as spiritual, mental, and physical, and their corresponding treatments and care protocols. Participants were also instructed on proper dosage based on age, body constitution, and lunar phases, as well as the various branches of traditional medicine and the practitioners associated with them. Moreover, this minga incorporated a nutritional and gastronomic dimension, featuring the sharing of recipes made with produce from the jajañ—recipes that are both highly nutritious and culturally appropriate. Furthermore, educational mingas were held, such as “Clestrinÿe – Traditional Festival,” “El Jajañ and Healthy Eating,” and “Rights and Duties as Children.” It is worth noting that those in which the Elders participated had the greatest impact, as they transcended into an emotional dimension. These gatherings fostered an intergenerational exchange, and the Elders’ participation evoked a sense of nostalgia. During the minga titled “The Story of My Grandparents,” participants shared insights regarding the changes that have occurred in education, the safeguarding of customs and traditions, language, and other forms of traditional knowledge.

During the minga titled “Respect for Mother Earth,” the Elders shared—with great sadness—how the introduction of monocultures and related technologies has driven the cultivation of jajañ to a critical state, and how deforestation has impacted the upper region known as Tojoy, leading to diminished water flow due to chemical use, as well as the broader effects of pollution. Meanwhile, at the minga titled “The Art of My Grandmothers,” where the grandmothers are revered as “weavers of life,” they shared their weaving practices, infusing them with their ancestral wisdom. In doing so, they affirmed the creative and imaginative capacity of women, as well as their artistic prowess—an artistry that invariably weaves their territory and Mother Earth into the very fabric of their work. Thus, the community was deeply moved by the profound implications of losing its Elder members; for beyond the loss of individuals who have long fulfilled vital roles within the community, there is also the loss of the knowledge they have acquired through a lifetime of experience, knowledge inherited from their own grandparents and past generations.

In the words of one Association member, this project “helped revitalize our knowledge through the practice of our own traditions,” while always keeping at the forefront the care of Tsbatsanamamá and a deep rootedness in their land. Community members forged connections in various ways, sharing wisdom, practices, and spaces for exchange to strengthen their collective identity, transmit it to future generations, and discuss issues of vital importance. Initiatives such as this inspire the continued creation of such spaces, places where individuals, drawing from their own cultural contexts, can connect and take action for the common good; reclaiming their traditional wisdom and ensuring that those who hold this knowledge are fully integrated into the conversations that seek to shape their community’s future.

In 2023, Camentsa Shnan Wabuatmeng Indigenous Association (Kamëntšá) received a Keepers of the Earth Fund  (KOEF) grant in support of their work. KOEF is an Indigenous-led fund within Cultural Survival designed to support the advocacy and community development projects of Indigenous Peoples. Since 2017, KOEF has supported 440 projects in 42 countries through small grants and a wrap-around approach totaling $2,667,147.