Mamo Arwawiku Mamo Arwawiku
Mamo Arwawiku is the spiritual founder (or Mamo) and guide of the Kwarte Umuke community of the Iku people (also known as Arhuaco). This community is situated on the front line of the resistance between their culture and that of the ‘younger brother’ (Westerners) in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. This is where four indigenous peoples live, who have skillfully survived the extermination attempts of the Spanish, the Capuchin missionaries, paramilitaries, the megaprojects, and all those who want to wipe out the indigenous people in order to govern as a single entity. In the struggle, mainly women have been attacked, losing their womb, their family, their language and their knowledge. That is why Mamos like Arwawiku have focused on defending their territories, like the place where he planted the seed (kankurwa) that has sprouted as a big community in the front lines of re-existence.
From a very early age, Mamo Arwawiku learned to heal and defend the territory following the spiritual teachings of his parents and grandparents. For this, it is necessary to connect his thoughts with Mother Earth, to talk to her and to take care of her in each territory. In order to heal, he learned to walk through different territories to identify where the destructive thoughts come from and to know in which part of the territory the diseases come from.
Mamo Arwawiku has traveled to various countries warning of the dangers of destroying the landscapes and showing how we are making Mother Earth sick. He has focused on reweaving the spiritual fabric between countries. If he has the opportunity to teach people to connect their thoughts with Mother Earth and heal, he does it because it is his mission. At 78 years of age in 2024, his job is to pass the knowledge on to the next generations, so that they can heal, recover their culture, their territory, their knowledge and defend life from the spirit.
Exhibitions
