The documentary; ‘Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth’ (2011), features Carlos Chan Chanuk, of the Lacondon Maya, who is studying to become a shaman. He lives amongst what was previously a thriving and lush rainforest in North America, which is now an island in the middle of cow ranches. Chan laments sadly that his people are losing touch with their gods. In this modern world they have disease and sicknesses, which Chan believes are because they have lost their belief and faith in their gods. Their connection with the universe and their gods is tenuous as the balance and harmony within that connection are no longer upheld by the practices handed down by their ancestors.
In the same documentary, Floridalma Pérez Gonzalez, from Guatemala has returned to her native village to help rally her people against the biggest gold mine in Central America who are poisoning their environment and children. She says that “it seems the white people see things as separate. Themselves. The tree. The house. As though they don’t know they are part of each other”. Because of the detraction from their old ways and beliefs and the industrialisation and increasing pollution of their country, the people are now foreseeing an end of …show more content…
In the Te Ara Encyclopedia website (2014), Timoti Karetu is quoted as saying that “if we lose our tikanga around tangihanga we lose our identity of who we are”. He said “if we forget our cultural practices, particularly those pertaining to the dead, then our very essence of our existence as Māori will be lost from the face of this earth, to the underworld forever”. Retaining tikanga is important to me in my practice in order to retain our mana and identity as individuals, as a whānau and as a hapū. Our practices and beliefs give us our unique indigeneity and identity as
In the same documentary, Floridalma Pérez Gonzalez, from Guatemala has returned to her native village to help rally her people against the biggest gold mine in Central America who are poisoning their environment and children. She says that “it seems the white people see things as separate. Themselves. The tree. The house. As though they don’t know they are part of each other”. Because of the detraction from their old ways and beliefs and the industrialisation and increasing pollution of their country, the people are now foreseeing an end of …show more content…
In the Te Ara Encyclopedia website (2014), Timoti Karetu is quoted as saying that “if we lose our tikanga around tangihanga we lose our identity of who we are”. He said “if we forget our cultural practices, particularly those pertaining to the dead, then our very essence of our existence as Māori will be lost from the face of this earth, to the underworld forever”. Retaining tikanga is important to me in my practice in order to retain our mana and identity as individuals, as a whānau and as a hapū. Our practices and beliefs give us our unique indigeneity and identity as