Earth Day Film and Speakers – Ikü Nation of Colombia’s Message on Water

To celebrate Earth Day, the documentary film, Naboba, will be screened at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 22, in Highsmith Student Union Room 114. The film will be followed by a cross-cultural discussion featuring Mamo Enemía Izquierdo and Teirungumu Torres from the Ikü Nation, Colombia, starting at 7:30 at the Mullen Park Fire Pit on campus. These events are free and open to everyone.

Juan G. Sánchez Martinez, UNC Asheville assistant professor of Spanish who is coordinating these events, provides this description:

The Ikü Nation and Naboba Documentary

The Ikü nation calls Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Colombia) “the heart of the planet.” In the last three decades, they have been protecting their traditional land against large-scale mining, narcotraffic, and dam projects. Information about the Ikü Nation may be found at: https://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/sierraindians. Naboba is a journey from the Caribbean coast to what are the highest snow peaks beside an ocean on Earth. Spoken in the native language, Naboba’s protagonists are the Mamos (elders), who take seriously their responsibility in protecting water. This 60-minute documentary offers an insight into the Ikü ways of being in nature, water cycles from the snow to the sea, and the importance for everybody (beyond race, ethnicity, class, or gender), for generations to come, of being aware of the interconnectedness of Mother Earth. View Naboba’s trailer at: https://youtu.be/MHskBS63IRs

Torres Zalabata, a direct descendant of Mamos (Ikü spiritual guides), is currently the only physicist from the Ikü nation researching on quantum mechanics. He is also one of the leaders of the Agua Maestra Collective, an Ikü organization bridging Eurocentric science with Native Science and indigenous languages. Within the context of the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages, Mr. Torres Zalabata will be giving public lectures on contemporary Ikü perspectives on water and physics in the departments of Languages and Literatures, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, and Humanities.

Mamo Enemía Izquierdo is the spiritual leader and medicine man of the Sinamorua community (Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia). He carries and teaches Iku ways of healing with plants, fire and water; this includes specific stories and songs that he received in his long training in isolation. Mamo Enemía is responsible for the health and wellness of his community. He is also the authority who celebrates traditional marriages, name-ceremonies, and “pagamento” (paying ceremony). Mamo Enemía will be giving public lectures on contemporary Ikü ways of being in nature in the departments of Languages and Literatures, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, and Humanities.