The Amazon region of Madre de Dios hosts indigenous people unique in cultural diversity, beliefs, social structure, economic and political organization.
Next-door neighbors with the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve (ACR), Tambo Blanquillo Private Nature Amazon Reserve serves the same mission towards a direct tool to preservation of the area. Thanks to this, the protection of the tributaries connecting the indigenous communities of the Harakbut, Yine and Matsiguenka tribes, is now a reality.
Just like other Amazon tribes, the Harakbut have gathered incalculable knowledge that has helped them counter against the usual challenges imposed by nature.
These teachings about the ancient world tells us how the resources that come from the forest blend in with the soil, water and magical creatures that are still preserved in local tradition as myths.
According to the Harakbut Cosmo vision all things were going to reverse, men were going to be animals or other beings. In that sense, for the Harakbut everything that is physical has an equivalent part in the spiritual world (every element has its wämewëre -spirit, soul, or equivalent) – and exists in the physical life as much as the invisible life.
Wandari is the nucleus of life for the Harakbut families reflected in the spiritual space that balances out daily life of being a Harakbut. It is a living space where there is an exchange of families, flora, fauna and spirits of the beings living in the forest that maintain an asymmetric relationship between the physical and the invisible world.
Everything started that day, when large flocks of birds of all kinds crossed the sky from east to west. It has been a while since it rained in abundance. Great rivers seemed like small streams, everything was changing.
After birds came along groups of dozens of hundreds of flying insects that went back and forth directly by us without even a single pause.
Reptiles first, mammals came later, we already knew what we need to do. Run together with all of them in search of the ‘Wanamey’: The Tree of Life. The largest tree ever. Soon, clouds of hot ashes started to fill up the atmosphere turning everything to darkness, which did not stop us. ‘Wanamey’ was our salvation, the God Sun sent its messenger of fire to burn everything that came across it.
The exodus to arrive where lied the so called ‘Wanamey’ lasted for weeks. Almost everyone had perished along the way. Only a couple of a pair of each specie was able to reach salvation and the Tree of Life.
Wanamey: The Tree of Life – Harakbut Myth
Everything was chaos, everybody wanted to summit and reach the top of the Tree of Life. Thus, it became too crowded and numerous incidents occurred before we were able to find cover up in the branches of the ‘Wanamey’.
I still remember with clarity how the one-colored jaguar that I had met, ran trying to put out its flames. Until now, he still keeps those dark spots caused by that fire.
I remember the harsh noise that creeped quickly into the immense fins of the ‘Wanamey’, when all of a sudden, a strong wind reached high, but the massive branches protected us… Then, after moving rapidly I dropped my hatchet over the curassow’s bill, splitting it until now a days. We all had to eat on the tree, that gave us enough food.
That day, we had eaten plenty of palm seeds, together with some other birds. The cacique, that had eaten more than necessary, was accidentally smashed by a huge capybara, which made him pop-out its feces showing of its typical yellow debris it still has. Everything went on! We had all suffered since the beginning, but later came the rain and the fire passed. After, everything turned green until now. So we hope rain does not leave us again, if it would I think we could vanish because the ‘Wanamey’ is not with us anymore.
Recent geological investigations have been happening through a vast area of the Amazon. Such data suggests that approximately two thousand years ago a massive fire was sought to occur in the Amazon basin.
