Helping preserve the ancestral legacy of our 'Elder Brothers', the indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada, is the objective of the #HistoriasDeLaSierra initiative that Santa Marta Marriott Resort Playa Dormida is undertaking in conjunction with the Wirakoku Foundation.
The project aims to help protect the heritage of the indigenous peoples that inhabit the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and, at the same time, dignify and recognize the work of women in making handicrafts, including dolls, backpacks and bracelets, as well as the cultivation and trade of coffee with materials of natural and sustainable origin.
These products and crafts, commissioned and acquired by Santa Marta Marriott Resort Playa Dormida, are made by indigenous women using traditional techniques and represent an important source of income for indigenous families.
LEGENDARY STORIES
In addition to rescuing the culture of indigenous peoples, #HistoriasDeLaSierra seeks to give meaning and continuity to the legendary stories that happen around the making of handicrafts and the cultivation of coffee.
"The indigenous peoples of the Sierra Nevada are some of the last bastions of nature and we are proud to support the Wirakoku Foundation in its mission to protect ancestral culture and the search for well-being for its members," said Jorge Sánchez, general manager , Santa Marta Marriott Resort Playa Dormida. "It is an initiative that fully coincides with our reason for being: sensitivity towards local communities, preservation of the environment and promotion of diversity and inclusion."
Thus, 350 people from 50 indigenous families on the coast have benefited from a series of money contributions from Santa Marta Marriott Resort Playa Dormida for the production of handicrafts and coffee from the mountains.
"Thanks to this alliance with Santa Marta Marriott Resort Playa Dormida we have been able to teach more groups of women how to make our dolls, from the pattern, cut and hand-sewn to their filling and final presentation," said Lucellys Torres, director of the Uirakoku Foundation. "It has also helped us to perfect the logistical and commercial processes so that more people know our millenary culture and the cosmogonic vision represented in the crafts and coffee of the sierra."
For Arhuaca women, weaving is one of the most important activities within the indigenous worldview, because through this activity visions of life are expressed and at the same time the mountains, animals and family lineage are represented, a mechanism of belonging of each individual to their community.
"The fabrics and textiles produced by the indigenous people of the Sierra have behind them precious ancient histories," continues Lucellys Torres. "By weaving, women not only express their visions for life, but also contribute significantly to the economy of their communities."