Kwanimğ n -Ancestral Territory of the Arhuaco People, Sierra Nevada de Gonawindúa, Heart of the World.
In a historic event for the indigenous people of Arhuaco, on 12 and 13 September, in the community of Kwanimğ n, the territorial deployment of the Pre, Free and Informed Consultation for the construction of the Indigenous Environmental Policy of Colombia. This process seeks to consolidate the National Indigenous Environmental System, which contains the purpose of strengthening the administration and integral governance over the ancestral territory of the Black Line.
During the meeting, the traditional authorities of the Arhuaco people reaffirmed that the recovery and expansion of the ancestral territory is essential for physical and cultural survival. They further noted that the central focus of this policy must be the protection and care of the territory, its relationship with the Mother in accordance with the Law of Origin and the ancestral order of the territory.
The Indigenous Environmental Policy represents a decisive step towards the recognition and development of skills such as Indigenous Environmental Authorityensuring autonomy, self-government and the comprehensive protection of its territory. Functions that, although recently beginning to be recognized in the Colombian legal framework, have been exercised in a millennial manner by indigenous peoples and today demand respect and recognition by society and State institutions.
The Environmental Authority is not a new concept for the original peoples. Since ancient times, the care of Mother Earth has been the focus of its systems of knowledge, of its forms of autonomy, of self-government and of life. For them, nature is not a resource, but a living being with rights, with whom we dialogue and weave relations of respect and balance.
This ancestral recognition begins to be reflected in Colombian legislation with Decree 1500 of 2018, where the Indonesian Confederation Tayrona is recognized as a special public authority with the function of ensuring the ancestral order of the territory. In addition, the Decree No. 1275 of 2024 it recognizes the environmental skills of indigenous peoples in their territories. A step that, while new to the State, constitutes a millennial government exercise for peoples whose mission from the Origin Act is to care for, protect and defend rivers, forests and moors.
With the Indigenous Environmental Policythe Arhuaco people marks a milestone in the defence of the territory and in the collective construction of a own environmental system, in harmony with Mother Earth and based on its principles given by the spiritual Fathers and Mothers of the territory.
