Our commitment to the native Arhuaco community
At Tatwa, we are deeply committed to preserving the ancestral knowledge of each community we meet through respectful exchanges. We hold a stronger commitment to the Arhuaco community of the Sierra Nevada in Colombia, which perfectly reflects our mission. We do not wish to see the outright destruction of ancestral communities that we have experienced in Europe.
Who are the Arhuacos?
The Arhuacos are an indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada, in the heart of the mountains of northern Colombia. On the heights of Santa Marta, they are, along with the Kogis, the Kankuamos, and the Wiwas, the keepers of the ancestral wisdom of this mountainous region of the Andes range. This system of age-old knowledge was inscribed in 2022 on the intangible cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO, a few months after our last visit to their land.
These isolated communities regard their land as the spiritual heart of the Earth. Their ancestral knowledge thus defines the sacred missions for a life in harmony with the physical and spiritual world. This balance is based on careful and respectful listening to the mountains, the rivers, and all the plant life that surrounds them. Their rituals and master plants allow them to communicate with the spirits of nature to understand their needs and convey their prayers.
What dangers threaten the ancestral communities?
Today, the Arhuacos, like the vast majority of indigenous communities in South America, are in danger from multinational companies and governments whose interests are focused on profit and exploitation.
In the face of the threats the Arhuacos face, we support their efforts to buy back and protect their sacred lands. These lands have belonged to their community for millennia, long before the rise of modern civilizations.
At Tatwa, our commitment is clear: we choose to respect life and to value ancestral knowledge.
How to support Tatwa and the Arhuaco people?
Tatwa returns a percentage of each sale to safeguard the native Arhuaco community.
These financial resources support them in reclaiming their land, thus ensuring the passing down of their culture and ancestral knowledge. Our deep bonds, based on respect and exchange, allow us to contribute sustainably to their preservation.
By choosing Tatwa, your action is not limited to merely buying a product: you actively take part in a cause that goes beyond personal well-being. You support the safeguarding of an age-old heritage by standing with the Arhuacos to protect their traditional healing, their legacy, and their lands.
Help us preserve these age-old cultural treasures!
Join our mission with the native peoples
Our goal is to join our efforts, all together, to protect the Arhuaco environment and pass on their knowledge to future generations. The support of each one of you is essential and urgent. Give a gift of hope to this community by supporting them.
Let us save the Arhuacos, let us save the ancestral peoples!
To learn more about the precarious situation of the Arhuacos, take a few minutes to listen to the account of an experience lived in 2022 by Laurent Gheller, one of the founders of Tatwa.