Para leer este artículo en Español ir a Defendiendo lo Sagrado en Colombia: Un Llamado a la Acción
Today I write to you from the “Heart of the World,” the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, where Indigenous communities—the Arhuaco, Kogi, Wiwa, and Kankuamo peoples—are facing intensifying violence after decades fighting to defend their land and way of life from extractive industries.
I’ve come to Colombia for the first time since my yearlong journey through Latin America in 2010. Colombia has been called the most biodiverse country on the planet, and it is also in many ways the most threatened, as Colombia consistently tops the Global Witness rankings in assassinations of activists and land defenders. This time around, I’m accompanying the Defend the Sacred Alliance (DSA) on an international pilgrimage, thanks to an invitation from longtime Esperanza Project collaborator and Vision Council co-conspirator Ivan Sawyer, who is organizing this journey.
The Defend the Sacred Alliance is a global alliance made up of community leaders, peacekeepers and activists, spiritual teachers, artists and people of all ages and many walks of life. The Alliance, founded in the wake of Standing Rock and similar movements, gathers each year in response to a spiritual and environmental call. Founded by members of Tamera Ecovillage in Portugal among others, the Alliance has intervened in dozens of human rights situations around the world to defend sacred sites and territories at the request of local Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.
In this journey, the group has traveled to the world’s highest coastal mountain range in the most biodiverse country in the world, home to the Mamos, the spiritual guides known throughout the world for their deep wisdom and connection with the Earth. We worked with Arhuaco filmmaker and journalist Amado Villafaña to portray the Arhuaco community in 2021 and share the message of the Mamos at the critical time of the recent pandemic in our short film The Body as Territory, with Hernán Vilchez, and the accompanying in-depth story, “The Arhuacos: A Message from the Mamos, the Prophets of the Sierra Nevada.”
I am traveling with an outstanding group of spiritual activists, including Cheryl Angel, a Sicangu Lakota water protector; Eduardo “Lalo” Guzmán, a guardian of the sacred Wirikuta desert in Mexico; Gabriel Meyer, an Argentine musician, radical creative, storyteller and writer; Sabine B. Lichtenfels, co-founder of the Tamera Peace Research Center and DSA; and Rajendra Singh, known as India’s “Waterman” for his work restoring rivers in Rajasthan, among many others. Together, we’ll answer the call to stand in solidarity and bear witness to these communities’ fight to protect their sacred lands.
Though DSA is covering my expenses once there, I am seeking support for my airfare. Your contributions will enable me to join and document this essential journey, as we stand in solidarity with Colombia’s communities and their defense of life. Here is the fundraising campaign I created, following the lead of the beloved Lyla June Johnson in using the GiveButter platform, which amazingly charges no commission. Please give what you can and share with those who might be interested in supporting or at least followng my journey, which I will be blogging about extensively from this page.
As I prepared for this trip I learned of a deeply troubling event: the murder of a revered Arhuaco spiritual leader, a Mamo, just a little over a month ago. The Mamos of the Arhuaco and Kogi people hold a profound place in Indigenous Colombian society; they are separated from childhood and raised in seclusion by spiritual guides to cultivate wisdom and an extraordinary spiritual connection to the land. To think of one of these gentle, white-clad souls, a guardian of the Heart of the World, being beaten to death and left by the roadside is both heartbreaking and galvanizing. It was this tragedy that inspired DSA’s call to action and, ultimately, my decision to join.
In many ways, Colombia feels like a sister country to Mexico. It’s beloved not only by many of my Mexican friends but also by myself, for reasons that go well beyond its dazzling landscapes. Colombia, like Mexico, is blessed with an astounding array of ecosystems—mountains, deserts, rivers, and jungles, home to an impressive 50,000 species, 10% of the world’s total biodiversity. Even more striking is Colombia’s cultural richness, with approximately 115 recognized ethnic groups, surpassing even Mexico’s 68 distinct Indigenous cultures.
But Colombia and Mexico also share a painful reality. Both countries contend with violent forces—the cartels and mafias—that exploit these lands and endanger the people who seek to protect them. In Colombia, the risks have escalated dramatically; for the second consecutive year, it led the world in land defender deaths, with 79 lives lost in 2023 alone, according to Global Witness. Tragically, Mexico is not far behind, tied with Honduras with 18 martyred defenders. These figures only scratch the surface, as so many stories go untold or unrecorded, a haunting testament to the unchecked greed that fuels the violence against our planet.
Journalists covering these battles for land, water, and life have also paid a high price. In 2012, Colombia ranked fifth globally in unsolved murders of journalists, the worst in Latin America, with Mexico close behind at eighth. The struggle continues, both for those reporting the truth and those defending it on the ground.
In the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, where we will be joining our Arhuaco hosts, corporate pressures from mining and agroindustries loom, threatening not only the environment but also the cultural and spiritual fabric that the Indigenous communities have safeguarded for centuries. These guardians of nature have called for international allies to bear witness, offering a layer of protection through presence and solidarity, an opportunity to amplify their voices on a global scale.
The Alliance is responding to that call, born from the recognition that our current crises—climate, political, social and spiritual—are symptoms of a broader disconnect between humanity and nature. While mainstream responses focus on growth and economic metrics, Indigenous wisdom reminds us of a different path, one that acknowledges our sacred responsibility to the Earth and each other. The Alliance’s gatherings are not simply about action; they are about healing and reconnecting, answering a call that transcends borders and backgrounds. Standing Rock demonstrated the power of prayerful resistance, and from that movement, DSA has continued to embrace and amplify Indigenous leadership as a guiding light in the defense of life.
As I prepare for this journey, I invite you to join us from afar. Your prayers, thoughts, and support—financial or otherwise—are a meaningful part of this work. I am excited to share stories from the communities we meet, the lessons we gather, and the ways in which we can all contribute to this global movement for the Earth.
Thank you for being a part of this journey with me, as I join the Alliance to stand with these communities in their courageous defense of life and the sacred connection we all share with the planet.
I will be blogging frequently, and sharing the more personal stories with my Patreon community , which now has a free option, or you can contribute as little as $5 a month or as much as you like. You are invited to come along for the ride — and if you would like to pitch in on a one-time basis, here’s how.
You can contribute via the fundraising campaign I created, or if you prefer another platform, we have PayPal, Venmo (@Tracy-Barnett-43), Zelle (+1 573 530 7719), and Google Pay; you can also write an old-fashioned check to The Esperanza Project, 1335 Wilderness Drive, Hillsboro, MO, 63050.
More important than money, however, is your support and engagement for this work. Follow and like us:
Facebook: @TheEsperanzaProject
Instagram: @the.esperanza.project
Twitter/X: @esperanzaprojec
YouTube: @esperanzaproject
Now, more than ever, we need to be working in concert with our Native Peoples to find our way back to the Original Instructions, as one Mamo told our Arhuaco film producer. Now, before it’s too late.
Arhuacos Colombia Defend the Sacred Alliance Heart of the World Kogis Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Standing Rock