“Our culture comes from the forest. The forest teaches us how to live, and our culture teaches us how to protect the forest.”
Nemonte Nenquimo, Waorani
In the short span of centuries – as a result of invasion, conquest and resource extraction – indigenous peoples of the Amazon have been struggling to protect their cultures from extinction.
Plant medicines. Healing systems. Hunting, fishing and agricultural techniques. Pathways to spiritual enlightenment. Language, stories and myths. Cosmovision. Ways of life that care for, sustain and defend one of our planet’s most complex, rich, mysterious and important ecosystems. Thousands of years of cultural knowledge is on the verge of disappearing.
Plant medicines. Healing systems. Hunting, fishing and agricultural techniques. Pathways to spiritual enlightenment. Language, stories and myths. Cosmovision. Ways of life that care for, sustain and defend one of our planet’s most complex, rich, mysterious and important ecosystems. Thousands of years of cultural knowledge is on the verge of disappearing.
A people’s culture is inextricably entwined with the territory and the plants, animals, soils and water within it.
The Amazon Frontlines Team strives to intimately understand the diverse cultures of this region; as the elders portray how it was in years past, the outside influences and atrocities that have threatened their existence, and also how to nourish the remaining cultural seeds into fruition. We especially acknowledge and work to support the vital role each mother plays in living-out and passing culture within the homes, gardens and forests of the Amazon.