How The Arhuaco Community In Colombia Lives In Harmony With Mother Nature

The practices of Colombia’s Arhuaco indigenous peoples were declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in November, along with those of three other indigenous communities in the Sierra Nevada mountains of northern Colombia – the Kogui, Wiwa and Kankuamo people. They follow the Law of Origin as a guide to living in harmony with Mother Nature. They consider all plants, stones and animals as living beings.

Updated: January 31, 2023 3:45 p.m

Colombia Arhuaco
| Photo: AP/Ivan Valencia

Arhuaco siblings; 16-year-old twin sisters Irene (left), Alba (right) and Sebastian sit in front of their home in Nabusimake in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. Arhuacos follow the Law of Origin as a guide to behavior and spiritual knowledge of how to live with Mother Nature.

Juana, a 65-year-old Arauco indigenous woman teaches her daughter to weave in Nabusimake, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia.

An indigenous Arhuaco woman weaves a bag in Nabusimake in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. The life of the Arhuacos is closely linked to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Their white robes represent snow, and the men’s conical hats represent the snow-capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada.

Arhuaco Indigenous men gather and chew coca leaves in Nabusimake in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. For the Arhuaco, the coca plant, which they call ayu, is sacred.

Indigenous Arhuaco teenager Irene, 16, helps with the family’s sheep in Nabusimake in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia.

View of the Arhuaco village of Nabusimake in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. Nabusimake is considered the capital of the Arhuacos.

Indigenous Arhauco girls sit by a ravine in Nabusimake in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. The Arhuaco are an indigenous people of Colombia, descendants of the Tairona culture, concentrated in northern Colombia in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

Salvador, an Arhuaco native, plays the accordion in Nabusimake in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia.

The Arhuaco indigenous Torres Izquierdo family gather at their home in Nabusimake in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. Not all of the Torres Izquierdo family speak Spanish, but all speak Iku, their own mother tongue.

Ceferino, 91, an Arhuaco indigenous man, sits outside his home in Nabusimake in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. The Arhuaco people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta have repelled incursions by Capuchin missionaries and illegal armed groups from Colombia’s long civil war.

Arhuaco Indigenous women wash clothes by a stream in Nabusimake in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia.

Sebastian, an Arhuaco indigenous man, ties cargo to his mules in Nabusimake in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. In order to be allowed to climb the Sierra Nevada to the Arhuaco lands, it is necessary to obtain a permit from them and submit to their laws.

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How the Arhuaco community in Colombia lives in harmony with Mother Nature

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