The petroglifo* of El Coco, the pain
Plinio Yavinape, an indigenous leader, invited me to know Old Coconut. She is a small population of curripaco ethnos and stays to the east of the urban hull, to a few kilometres for uncovered highway.
Once I went afoot(by foot) to The Coconut and knew closely the zone that separates it from Inírida. There it(he,she) looks like that had happened an atomic holocaust: They Are entire hectares where only there are seen dead trees, boughs and burnt pasture. Before there was pure jungle, today it is the only thing that stays. It(he,she) was there where I learned what is to feel shame to be a human being.
Also I knew New Coconut or The Coconut, colonists' community to the shore of the river Guaviare. I crossed his(its,her) 4 o5 stables, bathed(bathed) in the river and saw one that another football match. It is policeman's inspection(police inspection), it more importantly(important) that it(he,she) has it is the boarding school where they study the bare(peeled) ones, and his(its) bigger attraction is the tilt of football of neighborhoods and communities. You upset if it(he,she) is born as settlement. On the other hand Old Coconut was before that Inírida. In Mariano Useche's text22It(he,she) appears as center of interchange between(among) chibchas and Carib. The first ones were bringing salt, the second ones I pray from a long before the colony. Of there the prime matters went to the ceremonies that fascinated the Spanish in the lake Guatavita, and helped to create the legend of the Gilding.
The first time that I spent(passed) for The Coconut I did it in minibus and it(he,she) seemed to me too small. You upset I saw her to happen(pass) for the window. His(its,her) houses were white and his(its) biggest church. I told him to Yavinape what he(she) had read of history and it(he) told that it(he,she) had familiar(family) there and that we could go on any Sunday, when it(he,she) had time. Also it(he,she) had curiosity for knowing " the petroglifos* " who had said to me was nearby to this community, and I demonstrated my interest to learn indigenous languages.
The notable day we got up early and took(caught) the minibus. We crossed the span between(among) Inírida and The Coconut, and I returned to see the ugly thing of hectares burnt and felled to side and side. Since we were in winter, already there were seen zones flooded up to the edge itself of the highway. The Guaviare was getting in the middle of the herdsmen and was wetting lands that in summer were staying far from the shore.
We Come(came) to the community and there he me presented to his(its) father-in-law, an old craftsman who was doing special ovens to do casabe and tapioca. Also I knew his(its) brother and to his(its) sister-in-law, through that they were living to a few houses. They had in the part of behind an entechado* where they were hanging his(its,her) hammocks and were happening(passing) the evening, with his(its,her) children. Plinio set to report(converse) with them in curripaco and, clearly, I did not understand anything. To the while his(its) relative got into the house and served us yucuta of seje with small banana. It(he,she) was in a pot and we take(took) it with a totuma. They laughed a bit to my expenses because I did not know what they were saying and Yavinape me translated one that another little word. They all were speaking Spanish, but the acquaintance was Plinio. I commented on them on my worry because the documents should not be written in his(its) language and they answered me that they did not need documents, with the exception of the bond(certificate) and the judicial past. I said to them that this also could be published in his(its) language, but I could not explain the official concept of past to them. " Past is what already happened(passed), which stayed behind " I said to them. They guarded silence. In this moment I did not know that for the majority of the indigenous cultures the future is that it(he,she) stays behind, and the decisions take looking to the past.
My shame and my zeal for knowing they made us go out of the community. We took directly for a bedaubed small road that was leading directly to the river, in his(its) side the petroglifo* was. From the route to New Coconut the rock is managed to see, but not in detail. When I saw her closely I felt infuriated. The deterioration was evident. They had not done anything for preserving her(it) and up to they had put candle. Others had dug to the side, in an attempt for moving the rock. Yavinape made clear to me that many people believed that existed I pray below. For me, that the alone burning were already a tragedy, this was too much. Looking for gold they were destroying something even more valuable.
The rock had strange symbols, but it was like to see them across an opaque glass, already was not understood the essence of the drawing. Him(her) I asked Plinio about other petroglifos*, but he(she) said that did not exist any more, that since it(he) was living thereabouts only it(he,she) had known of one. It(he,she) admitted that actually(indeed) they had never been interested to him(her) very much and that it(he,she) was probable that existed more. We search(searched) in the rocks of the beach, and between(among) the nearby trees, but we do not find(did not find) anything. We get(got) stuck in a discussion on the importance of the history and the culture. Yavinape said to me that " everything it was very nice, but it(he,she) was not giving of eating ". I spoke to him(her) about the possibilities of the tourism, of the wealth that were turning smoke. It(he,she) commented to me that the Indian was feeling less, that " actually(indeed) they were very slowed down " and he(she) seemed to be very difficult to feel pride for his(its) indigenous past. The tourism for it(him) only was another motive for the skepticism. It(he,she) knew that were needed to do many things to him(you,them) in order that it(he,she) was coming in form and in the Guainía they were tired of expecting.
We bath(bathe,bathed,bathed) in the Guaviare and return(returned) to Old Coconut, to waiting for the microbus. There opposite the route, next to the church there was his(its) father-in-law sat in a banking with a youngster. It(he,she) put of foot to greet ourselves, said something in curripaco while it(he,she) was indicating the young woman and to(on) the child, that in this moment she(it) was nursing. The elder saw that I did not understand and repeated in Spanish " this she is my wife, this he is my son, welcome to my house ". He(she) said it with so big amiability, which impressed me. I tried to answer him(her) of the same way, but it(he,she) did not know how. Yavinape exclaimed ironically " it, we converse with the old man, to seeing that(that) to know we prune him extract! ". I felt confused. Yavinape was misinterpreting my gesture, while in my mind it(he,she) was costing work to assimilate the idea of so young woman(wife) married an elder.
She was an almost a girl. It(he,she,I) would have approximately 16 years. As all in the department, colonas* and natives, he(she) was not feeling the most minimal modesty on having showed the bosom on having given milk. In this moment already I was not looking alike at all strangly. Later, in Bogota and in Cali, I was laughing on having seen all the ropes that had to make the women to hide " his(its,her) shames ". It(he) was slightly very rare(strange) to see in his(its,her) faces the worry for which nobody saw them.
The father-in-law of Yavinape would have approximately 60 years or more. It(he,she) was costing a lot of work to identify his(its) age for his(its) physicist. His(its) body was small but muscular and firm as that of a teenager. But his(its) face and his(its,her) hands were reflecting years of experience and oar. This way it(he,she) was spending(passing) all(all) to myself with almost native(indigenous). Behind it(he,she) was getting confused easily with any young man(woman), but not in his(its) face. The whole life in a nice environment of community, joined his(its) nourishment always natural was turning them luxuriant(arrogant). His(its) constant work of resea, to raise the spade and the machete, to load the fruits of the land they were completing a healthy picture for anyone.
In these instants he(she) was feeling the proximity of my item(game), and was weighing me not to have come before. It(he,she) had had the opportunity, but it(he,she,I) had not discovered it. Now already it(he,she) did not have time to learn, to return another day and to converse. He(she) had to choose between(among) Cali and Inírida, and there knew that without mattering widh was choosing, it(he,she,I) would surprise terribly other one. He(she) was thinking it when the minibus came and interrupted my thoughts.
YOU NOTICEIt(he,she,I) Does(do) clic in
to return to the mark of note.
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