500 years later, tribe emerges from isolation, warns world: “The heart of the world is sick”

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia is the highest coastal massif in the world, with mountains reaching 5,730 meters. It is here, in the mountains, that the Kogi tribe, who have lived in isolation for more than 500 years, have found refuge.

In the early 1990s, tribes began to slowly go out and reach out to the outside world. They were not attracted by modern technology or processed food. Instead, they came out of isolation to warn people that they were destroying nature, to protect their homeland, and to protect the world.

The brothers are the culprit of all this

For the Kogi tribe, their mountains are the center of the world—the place where all life begins. They are considered the eldest brother who protects the heart of the world through rituals and prayers to maintain the ecological and spiritual balance of the earth. This balance is threatened by the “younger brothers,” or “foreigners,” as the Kogi call them. Considering the damage caused by colonization, this name is already mild for those who don’t care. The Kogi people regard the destroyers of nature as children who don’t understand what they are actually doing to their rivers, forests and mountains.

The Kogi, like the Wiwa, Conwama and Arhuaco tribes, are descendants of the indigenous Tayrona civilization that was conquered by Spanish conquistadors. The survivors of the conflict fled to the mountains. The Kogi, who lived closest to the top of the mountains, isolated themselves from the rest of the world. Meanwhile, the younger brothers worked tirelessly to cut down local forests to produce food and cocaine. Devastating data shows that only 17% of the original forests of the Sierra Nevada remain today.

Protected Heart of the World

The center of the world, the vast massif of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta stretches from its foothills touching the Caribbean Sea to its peaks where snow never falls. Between these two extremes lie different ecosystems, from glaciers and misty mountains to humid tropical jungles. This beautiful region has one of the richest biodiversity on Earth, and UNESCO has protected it as a Biosphere Reserve.

The area is home to more than 600 bird species, including 36 found nowhere else, and 189 mammal species. In 2013, the International Union for Conservation of Nature ranked Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Natural Park as the “most irreplaceable” place in the world for endangered species.

This movie was supposed to change everything

In the late 1980s, tribal priests or mamos made the difficult decision to end isolation. At their invitation, British director Alan Herrera worked with the tribe for the next two decades to deliver a message to the younger brothers through documentaries, warning of where the plunder of nature was heading. Sacred rivers were drying up, glaciers were melting. The heart of the world was sick, and perhaps even dying.

In his book Heart of the World (1990), Herrera describes how his first experience with Koji ended. After the documentary was finished, the crew crossed the bridge and Mamos symbolically closed it. They were told that the brothers should not return. Only Alan had to come again to show them the film they had made. Herrera kept his promise, but the destruction of nature did not stop, on the contrary, it accelerated. Koji’s new fame attracted tourists, anthropologists and various spiritual seekers who ventured on the journey in the hope of understanding the “original” indigenous culture and absorbing its wisdom – or at least taking some good photos.

“We want to let our brother know that he can’t come here anymore, he can’t come back. That’s the boundary we set. Understand, we don’t want him to come here and bother us. He destroys so much,” the Kogi said in a documentary.

Since Herrera first visited Kogi in the late 1980s, the tribe has welcomed a handful of outsiders: academics, linguists and environmentalists whose motives are trustworthy. Official permits are granted by the Gonawindu Aterona Organization (OGT), the representative body of the indigenous government. Today, OGT focuses on the management of the Kogi reserve, nature conservation and assistance in the production and marketing of coffee, on which the tribe depends for its survival.