Help Us Build a Ceremonial House and Learn from the Kogi’s Indigenous Wisdom

OVERVIEW

Join us in supporting the remarkable Kogi people, an indigenous group that resides in the breathtaking Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains in Colombia, to share their indigenous wisdom with leaders across the world to heal the planet. 

We are helping to fund the creation of a very special “Casa Ceremonial” (Ceremonial House) to help bring together the most influential minds from around the world to meet with Kogi elders to learn from the Kogi’s indigenous wisdom.

The Kogi stand as the last bearers of the ancestral wisdom and rich legacies of the Inca and Aztec civilizations, tracing their roots back to the Tairona people from as early as 2500 BC. 

The Kogis live to communicate with the natural world and with spirit to sustain the equilibrium necessary for life to flourish on Earth. Their ritual offerings, songs, prayers, knowledge, traditions, and way of life are crucial in preserving the balance of the earth’s ecology. 

The Ceremonial House will be built on a sacred oceanfront land near the town of Palomino, which will be the first Ceremonial House built on the coast and not in the heights of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains which takes a several day excursion to access.

After thousands of years without contact with the western world, the Kogis have just begun to share their knowledge with the world over the last half century, and this will be the first permanent place for the Kogi’s to continue to carry out their mission. 

Mamo Luis, one of the Kogi elders, has given his support to this initiative to bring together the ancestral wisdom of his native peoples with modern and scientific knowledge to restore the balance of the planet. 

We are seeking to raise $20,000 to fund the construction of the Casa Ceremonial.

Your support is not just a donation; it's an investment in the preservation of invaluable knowledge and practices that the Kogi and their Mamos offer to sustain our planet.

Please join us. Your generosity can make a profound difference.

PROJECT MITANZAMA

Project Mitanzama has a grand vision to bring together the most influential minds from around the world to learn from indigenous wisdom in order to heal the planet. The project involves constructing an integrated facility on a beachfront site in central Palomino that includes guest houses, a restaurant and an education center. The Santa Marta region, home to several indigenous groups including the Kogis, holds special significance due to the confluence of the four elements (water, earth, fire and air). Project Mitanzama is blessed to have the support of the Kogis who will be working directly with the center to share ancestral knowledge and wisdom.

This all begins with one important structure: the ceremonial house, which is the cornerstone of the Mitanzama Project.

LA CASA CEREMONIAL

A ceremonial house is a place where people meet with the entity of the place, to make decisions and solve situations. In this case it is the nujue where we articulate the astral and ancestral wisdom of the native peoples with modern and scientific knowledge to restore the balance of the planet. It is a living being, its construction is circular, it is a replica of the cosmos, a calendar and many other things. It is connected with the sun, the moon and the Stars. Internally it has certain ancient objects that have the resonance capable of connecting us with the universe, just as antennas work to obtain a signal. It is a natural construction, without anything manufactured, it uses elements such as wood, palm, vines and reeds typical of the

Place. Its construction is carried out by indigenous Kogis (who have preserved their emotional relationship with nature) who work together and quickly to sustain through their wisdom (which is high technology) the invisible threads that sustain existence.

Having a meeting place to create common agendas between Westerners and indigenous people is vital to establishing emotional relationships with the subject. To learn to live with nature instead of living from it. This is the unique value and superior proposal of the Mitanzama project, due to its geographical location and valuation of intangible heritage.

The Kogis want to take care of the environment. Protecting the territory, the problems of the Sierra Nevada are not a lack of resources but an excess of wealth. They want to teach how to take care of the planet.

PROJECT DETAILS & TIMELINE

Construction will begin in April 2024 with a team of Kogis, led by Jorge Dib. The construction process will utilize local materials and will take two weeks to complete. The funds raised will pay for the building materials (stones, plants, ⁠wood and other construction materials) as well as covering food and lodging expenses for the team of Kogis during the construction process. It will also fund the initial activation and maintenance of the ceremonial house as we gather western leaders and Kogi elders there.

A note from project leader: Jorge Dib

As the son of a descendant of the Kogi and a Lebanese immigrant, I was adopted by the Kogi to act as a bridge and interlocutor with the entire world. 

After being successful in the Western world I have given my life to service. I have lived with the Kogis for much of my life. I have also traveled the world with the Kogis, recovering sources and water, healing global problems and disasters caused by current inhabitants, I have participated in the social, public and private and also in the spiritual. 

The construction of the ceremonial house is about to begin, and this will anchor the much bigger vision of Project Mitanzam.

Palomino is a waterfront location that receives a floating population of 5,000 people daily. It has more than 250 hostels, and is beautiful for its natural and historical attraction. It is a source of income for many people and companies, which is distributed between booking, hotel owners, service providers who are attracted by the natural beauty and the Kogis, who receive nothing and are the architects of the ethnosphere. 

My purpose is to merge from here, with beauty, love and integrity, the reception of the material and functional world with the relationship of the immaterial and emotional world.  

What I am doing is giving my credibility with the ancestral authorities to share with the world the paths, forces, wisdom and methods for the continuity of life. That's all. 

From this land, the Kogi can share their ancestral wisdom to help restore the balance of the planet.  

This model places environmental sustainability above social and financial sustainability. To transform the exploitation of resources and economic profitability by multiplying resources and profitable well-being. You never win when someone loses.  United we are stronger and together we transcend. The effects of this fusion will be seen very soon when we mitigate coastal erosion on the planet. The rest is secondary. 

OUR PARTNERS

Ancestral Heart

Ancestral Heart is a 501(c)3 sponsored organization focused on project based initiatives to support preservation of wisdom traditions of the original nations within Colombia, Mexico and Africa through community support, education, and plant medicine conservation. Ancestral Heart has been supporting projects connected with the Zulu, Wiraxica, Kogi Kaggaba, Comcaac Seri, Bwiti since 2019. We are fiscally sponsored by Far Away Project 501(c)3. You can read the annual financial report here. Ancestral Heart currently does not pay any staff or management, all funds go directly to the projects that we support. We believe that our time is a form of reciprocity; it is the least we can give for all that we have received from these medicines and traditions. Any payments, stipends are only given to those representing the indigenous communities, including indigenous board members that are playing a role in service of  their communities representation.

Far Away Projects

Far Away Projects is a fiscal sponsor and nonprofit incubator on a mission to build an equitable and regenerative future. Everyday, they provide organizational tools to global leaders making an impact in their own communities. Projects are selected for fiscal sponsorship based on their alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

**All donors can receive a receipt from Far Away Projects upon request, which will enable their donation to become tax exempt.