Oil is blood of the earth

Roberto Afanador Cobaria

Contents

    Ulla Lehtinen: "Indigenous peoples and oil" events in Finland 1999 
    Olli Tammilehto: A civilised world or a bloodsucker of the earth? 
    Background information on oil 
    Russia's oil production 
    Florian Stammler: Where does our oil come from? 
    Yeremei Aipin: Russia's oil industry and the development of rights of indigenous people 
    Agrafena Sopochina: "We Live on what the earth carries on itself" 
    Yuri Vella: Kogalym-Lor - the lake where a man died 
    Bruce Forbes: Industrial development in the Yamal-Nenets Area 
    Lidia Okotetto: I no longer understand the tundra that has loved me 
    Grigorii Anagurichi: A clash of civilisations at the ends of the world 
    Charity Nenebari Ebeh: The Ogoni experience 
    Magda Lanuza: Oil production in Central America 
    Ecuador and oil 
    Arturo Yumbai Iligama: The war against the poor 
    Colombia, the U'wa and oil 
    Roberto Afanador Cobaria: Oil is blood of the earth 
    Workshop 1: The strategies of oil industry and the responses of indigenous peoples' movements 
    Workshop 2: Networking of indigenous peoples threatened by oil and gas exploration 
    Workshop 3: Northern Dimension
    Communique of the participants in the seminar "Indigenous Peoples and Oil" 
    Internet links
 Speech in the seminar
 
 

Our main problems concern our lands and our regions. Wherever we are, we are attached to Mother Earth. We should have the right to live there. Oil is blood of the earth, and should not be taken away. We cannot do that. Humans also have blood that sustains the life force.

Life is land. It supports life. Life is water and the sun. According to our philosophy, our life is 490,000 years old. Our people have certain rules that Heaven has given us. He has given us commandments that we must fulfil.

The land on which we live is not ours. It has been given to us for the purpose of our lives and we have been put to defend it. It is not ours because in heaven it is said: I have made it, I have created it.

It has been said from there that if we don't fulfil this law, we shall receive a new law and it is an earthquake. Heaven will give the law of earthquake that we will find whether we can live with this law. And that is why we fear the exploitation of the earth and now that of oil.

There are two most important prayers and promises

When I was born, my father gave the first promise to the Father Heaven. He begged that I should not become polluted, and that this small life would live off this land. Education in my life comes from the father.

All food that we eat comes from Heaven. Everything that grows on land, plants, meat, and also whatever grows in water must be taken care of. This is our belief.

There are certain ceremonies that we have to repeatedly perform. We pray to the sun and the moon so that they don't doze off; we pray to the water of spring so that it does not doze off. They sustain our life. Our teaching urges us to be good to the land. We have to fast and be reminded that history cannot be changed.

What we are demanding at the moment is a refuge. Up to this point our country's indigenous peoples have been forced to negotiate with the government, and as a result the government has recorded our home territory. Part has been marked off for us but part has been left out.

There are already people belonging to the ruling ethnic group who live in part of our territory but we want that part of it should remain with us and that it should entirely be outside the drilling area. We have experienced loss of human life in our territory in the course of drilling oil. 

Oil extraction has been destructive to us as well as to new settlers. Preliminary explorations have been done in our area and now they want to begin oil extraction, but there is no right for this. It would bring large machinery that we do not need. It would bring aircraft and airfields. It would bring in soldiers. It would bring in the enemy and that would bring clashes. Peace to us means that we don't have to negotiate with the government. No need for soldiers and no need for confrontations.

Interview

Our live is difficult and the problems are many. The government does not want to return our land because it contains plenty of natural resources, wood, oil and fish. There is a big wood-processing project coming up in the region and the government wants to sell the wood on our land. The waters are forcefully fished and no concern is given to the future and continuity of the fish stock.

The oil companies want to come and exploit in our ancestral territory. To us Mother Earth is a living being, and we don't understand this kind of activity and we oppose it. Many animals have already died in our region and now we are protecting the forests on the high mountains so that the animals would have some places for protection. Part of the land has become savannah and has been laid waste because of too much logging. We had our own salt mine which the government confiscated. Now we have to manufacture handicrafts for them and with that pay for our own salt. The salt mine was very important to us, we derived income with which we could get by.

Oil is not edible. Only those who have machines and cars need that - we don't

Oil is a problem to us. It brings violence. Soldiers and guerillas come along with the oil companies. Colombia is very violent country, there are soldiers everywhere. Wherever we go there are at least, five, six or seven checkpoints where one's identity is checked and the purpose of and permit for travelling is asked. Travelling there is very difficult and dangerous.

In Colombia we are dispersed, but if we can combine our strengths and be involved in close international co-operation things would go well. But it demands a lot of work. There are many people who have already given up their traditional culture. Attempts are made to buy us off, and we being offered Christ, which is not our culture. To some people culture is for sale, because they want cars and commodities. They are selling their culture. The culture of indigenous peoples is not in that selling and buying activity. 

Land, water, the whole should be honoured and protected. One should think and act right and well in in all from the perspective of the good of all life.

From my point of view it is quite sad to speak about water and about land because they are all being abused. My task is to save my people and as a matter of fact, all peoples because we come from the heart of the world, from the centre of the globe. We should have the right to protect our territory as a people. We should be valued and honoured like other peoples. One cannot just like that come to the land of our people to take or buy our natural resources. We have our own laws that are much older than the so-called Colombian laws. Our laws should be understood and respected. At the moment the government of Colombia does not work like that.

Roberto Afanador Cobaria (in the U'wa language Berito Kubaruwa) is one of the elected leaders of the U'wa people. He has played a significant role in the campaign against Oxy