Maps, Magic, and Medicine

Deep in the Amazon, there are groups that have made the decision to isolate themselves from the outside world. These isolated or uncontacted groups live under constant threat of incursion from mining, development, and illegal activity. On the final episode of this series, we'll explore the reason why these groups fled into the rainforest, how to protect isolated groups without contacting them, and the late Colombian historian who proved the existence of isolated groups in Colombia.

Julian Lennon, musician, photographer, and founder of the White Feather Foundation hosts this special episode about the Kogi indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. Kogi community members discuss the importance of water, sacred sites, and their ancestral territory, while Julian Lennon reflects on his visit to Kogi sacred sites and the lessons it imparted.

Suriname is the only country in the Western hemisphere that does not recognize the land rights of indigenous groups. Yet, development projects, loggers, and miners have legal contracts allowing them to work on traditional lands. On this episode, we'll hear how indigenous groups are using maps to reclaim their territory.

Taita Luciano, un medico tradicional de la cultura Inga, habla sobre la importancia del yagé para el medio ambiente y como su mal uso afecta a las comunidades indígenas.

Taita Luciano, a traditional healer from the Colombian Amazon, reflects on the importance of the traditional medicine yagé or ayahuasca for the environment and how the misuse of yagé affects indigenous communities.

When Mark Plotkin went down to Suriname, he wanted to study how indigenous peoples use plants. But when he saw his indigenous friend Wuta leave his home in search of a better life in the city, he realized that indigenous knowledge was disappearing faster than anything in the forest.

Over 20 years ago, the conservation world was changing. An unexpected event showed Liliana Madrigal a different way forward that puts people first. On this episode, we talk to Liliana Madrigal, Adrian Forsyth, and Raquel Gomez about the challenges and successes of this new approach

Maps, Magic, and Medicine explores the importance of indigenous cultural knowledge to protect the environment. But what do we mean by "Maps, Magic, and Medicine?"

Many indigenous groups in the Amazon struggle to encourage young people to adopt traditional culture and learn about their ancestor’s stories. As a result, a group can lose its entire archive of stories within a few generations. Yaucumá Waruá from the Waurá tribe in the Brazilian Amazon worries about this happening in his community.

Indigenous groups are often given two choices: to stay in the rainforest or leave to enter "modernity." That was the case with Wuta in the Surinamese rainforest as Dr. Mark J. Plotkin recalls. To listen to more of the story subscribe to Maps, Magic, and Medicine

Over twenty years ago, the Kogi people predicted what we now call global climate change. Today, their message is the same.