"Sense of Mahalle": Can Divit, September 2014
Author's Note: Mahalle means community or neighborhood
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Dad & I are having drinks with an acquaintance of ours, an investment banker. He went on and on... and on about how successful he was in investing in gold in the early 2010's. "I made a killing" he says arrogantly... as gold prices skyrocketed 360%! Dad was helping along the conversation... I was physically present and mentally absent but suddenly, something he said caught my attention. They were mining gold in the rain forests of the Amazon... and apparently, the indigenous locals were giving them a hard time!
A quick Google search, after I get home... I become a rebel with a cause!?
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It took three flights (Istanbul-Madrid-Lima-Iquitos) and two days on a boat to reach the landlocked village of Isla Payorote. The indigenous Yagua tribes live deep in the rain forests and on the banks of the Marañón which merges with the Ucayali to become the mighty Amazon river.
The gold mining industry wasn't regulated in Peru. Therefore, gold mining is rapidly deforesting the Amazonian rain forests. The 30000 miners in the area brought diseases such as measles, tuberculosis, influenza and malaria and the tribes are not exposed to them. So along with the rain forest, the people are also dying at a rapid rate!
There is a small contingent of foreigners living among the tribesmen in makeshift huts and boathouses: a doctor, a couple of nurses, a Spanish translator/teacher, an environmental activist and a documentary film maker.
I've been living here for about a week and the Yagua tribesman have been cautiously welcoming of strangers like me. With the help of the translator, I tried to explain the idea I had to help them.
Along with my camera kit & Mac, I had bought with me 10 digital cameras with extra batteries, thank God! The plan was to teach them to take photos of their everyday lives, things that make them them, and build human interest stories around them, through them, for them and by them.
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They're indigenous for a reason - they don't have plumbing, electricity or any motorized equipment. They grow vegetables and harvest grains, hunt in the forest and fish in the river. Their approach to dinner is communal i.e. bring grains, vegetables and meats to a common kitchen, prepare the meal and everyone shares it equally!
In the truest sense, they're disconnected from the modern world! Only a few men have ventured to the nearby town of Iquitos; they couldn't survive because they knew only Quechua and not Spanish.
They have no currency only a bartering system, no phone, Internet, alcohol, soda or bread... and the food is wild caught, organic and fresh as it can be... so tasty and delightful!
Imagine this : most of them haven't even seen a bicycle, a digital camera is witchcraft to them. So it takes a few days to convince them that it's safe to use. Interestingly, the children and young adults took to the technology immediately and wanted to play with it. Within a few days, the myth wore off and the elders started to adopt the technology!
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I'm getting into the rhythm of things : wake up at sunrise, freshen up in the river, work in the fields or go fishing (I can't kill animals), back by sundown, communal dinner, folk music and dance, process the photographs of the day, sleep under the stars... listening to the sounds of the night!
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As they've gotten familiar with me, I've taken to sleeping in the hammocks made from palm fiber on most days within the maloca (community).
An interesting distraction I have is a young girl of 14 or 15, named Tica, meaning flower. After the first few days, I notice that she's following me everywhere. She's at every corner I turn, sits next to me at dinner, helps me in the fields, waits for me to return from the fishing and is waiting nearby when I wake up.
After being bitten by a poisonous spider in the forest, I was in pain and barely lucid for about two days. The tribal cure was to cut open the skin to let out the poison and the doctor had patched me up afterwards. Tica was my nurse and caretaker during this time... never leaving my side and tending to my needs. It doesn't take a genius to know that she has a massive crush on me!
In order to not hurt her feelings, I mildly indulge her. It's harmless to me... I get her flowers, take her photos, we eat together and usually I wave her goodnight before going to bed. Seeing that I wear jewelry, she makes me some pieces using shells and seeds.
One of the nurses cautions me about getting too close to her... and I think it's weird because she's just a child in my eyes! Apparently, Yagua girls are married when they're 14 or 15. To prevent inbreeding issues, they invite suitors from outside the clan, and the man comes to live at the home of his prospective wife as part of her family. If the girl gets pregnant during this time, the couple returns to the man's family and are considered officially 'married'.
Stunned... I look at Tica in a completely different light! To her, I'm that guy, someone from outside the clan, come to live with them, part of their family and a potential husband for her! Oh holy hell... this is not something I knew and wasn't expecting this kind of attention!
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As my stay nears two months, I realize it is time to leave... to actually tell the human interest stories. For that, I need media and modern technology to do them justice! On an aside note, the photos that were taken became a sensation. The biggest achievement was that Peru & Colombia implemented heavy regulations and restrictions for gold mining in the area.
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Even though they were skeptical of me at first, they've embraced me as part of the clan... they've shared their everyday bread with me, included me in their lives, cared for my well being, looked after me, kept me safe and protected me from the dangers of the Amazon rain forest, in every sense of the word!
I take my leave from the tribe chieftain, a man of about 60. To this day, I can't tell which of the men and women were his actual children. He is their leader... and he cared for and loved everyone equally! Their sense of family and community is not something that I've ever seen anywhere... and it's very noble and noteworthy! I'm almost envious of how the women mothered their children while the men played protectors! They were more socially conscious, family focused, community driven and empathetic than most of the modern cultures that I've witnessed... and it's a miracle to experience!
I have had an unforgettable time with the tribe and I've yearned for that sense of mahalle (community) since meeting the Yagua!
Tica is devastated and terribly sad to see me go; I give her a hug and a kiss on both cheeks. I tell her "Huq ratukama" (see you later) and "Hina kachun!" (good luck)!
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Author's Note: Can Divit describes this experience in Peru in Erkenci Kus #22 during a conversation with Ceyda when she finds the photo of him in the forest.
FYI: Mahalle in Turkish and Maloca in Quechua, both mean Community!
More FYI: Mahalle (Arabic), maḥallä (Persian), maḥallä (Arabic) , mahallë or mëhallë (Albanian), махала (Bulgarian), μαχαλάς (Greek), mahallā (Bengali), mōhallā (Hindi), Məhəllə (Urdu), mëhallë (Azerbaijani).
DH & I went on an Amazon River cruise in Peru... and I was blown away when Can Divit mentioned the Yagua tribe. Below are some photos of the real tribe and the beautiful rain forests and river!
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