Mountains supporting Mountains: Mutual Aid Resources for Appalachia and Nepal
Climate change is causing catastrophic weather pattern changes to mountain ranges around the world. Recently, both Nepal and the Appalachian Mountains have been victim to [...]
Andean Keepers of the Indigenous Systems: Celebrating the Ethos of Hatun Tinkuy in Peru
By: Abriti Moktan, Mountain Sentinels Fellow
I embarked on a short, power-packed, impromptu trip to Peru to attend the Mountain Sentinels Summit at Huaraz amidst the chaos of finals week in December. The summit’s core value revolved around Hatun Tinkuy, meaning “large encounter, getting together for a common interest towards sustainable future of the mountain communities,” focusing on the Andean understanding of science and value to influence the State’s policies. Landing in Huaraz, with a breathtaking view of the mountainous landscape, felt like a homecoming because some character of Latin America has always resonated with my native place — Darjeeling, Eastern Himalaya.
The Mountain Summit Hatun Tinkuy
This mountain summit was organized in partnership with three different organizations — the Mountain Sentinels, ABA Ayacucho, and Instituto de Montaña (the Mountain Institute) — and had participants from a broad spectrum of Indigenous member groups, academicians, researchers, scholars, and practitioners from both Peru and abroad representing the ethos of the Hatun Tinkuy — “a large encounter” of people passionately working for the mountains and the Indigenous knowledge systems.
The enmeshed connections representing the complexity and intricacy of human bonds that we were set to forge for a lifetime.
Unique Participatory Engagements
This conference had a unique feature — collaborative and participatory sessions throughout the four days of the workshop, which was visibly evident right from the introduction session, where we formed a network by passing the wool ball from one person to the other as we introduced ourselves. We provided offerings — materials that held immense value to us or some form of cultural objects — to the mountain deities, and an Indigenous elder performed the associated ritual. This personal touch set a tone for the participatory nature of the summit.
During the workshop sessions, we got into groups and had lively, in-depth discussions around various topics ranging from ethics to be applied in research, ways of building resilience within communities that we work with, Indigenous knowledge systems, adaptive management systems, and the associated work we carry out in our respective fields.
Graphic recorder Karina Branson had an uncanny power to translate the live proceedings into amazing artwork.
Ecological Rights & Water Security Emerged as Strong Themes
“Mother nature does not have a voice of its own…”
The energy of the powerful and passionate presentations by the local Indigenous communities in Spanish and Quechua could be felt even if I didn’t understand the language (grateful to the translators). There were deliveries around human-culture linkages — the intricate relationships humans share with nature — pushing for holistic nature-centric ecological rights that transcend human-centric environmental rights.
Water bodies with grassland ecosystems in the highlands of the Cordillera Blanca.
“Water is a communal property…”
The impacts of climate change and the receding glaciers hits the mountain communities directly. This gets translated into drought-prone areas and water scarcity issues, which become an everyday living experience for local Indigenous communities, the burden of which is experienced more by women in particular. However, a collaborative community effort to devise adaptive strategies drawing from their Indigenous practices shows the innate adaptive capacity of the local communities.
“Local knowledge key sustainable solution…”
The Indigenous community members presented a window for us to peek into their cosmology and the associated worldviews. The folklore behind the existence of Cordillera Blanca and the prowess in selecting the specific native plants for the bioremediation of acidified water showed the richness of their knowledge system. The local communities emphasized that ‘local knowledge,’ which constitutes the Indigenous knowledge system, is key to providing sustainable solutions.
The continuance of some of the prehispanic practices, such as building dykes, water channels, and tanks or pools, to filter water through infiltration, recharge aquifers, conserve, and most importantly, manage water testifies to the power and endurance of these dynamic traditional practices that have survived the test of time. However, outmigration from rural areas in search of better opportunities, lack of an institutional mechanism to realize ecological rights, and fracture in governance infrastructure pose an insurmountable danger that the Indigenous members are fighting head-on.
Part of the mighty Cordillera Blanca range in its full glory. The stacked rocks reminded me of a similar ritual on the hiking trails in the Eastern Himalaya.
Climb to Urushraju: More about the Journey than the Destination!
There were three different hiking options for a field trip within the Huascarán National Park. I chose to scale up to the glacial Urushraju moraine (4700m), which I realized to be overambitious of me within 10 minutes of walking with a pounding heart. Other options offered a chance to see a site using bioremediation techniques to purify waters contaminated by natural minerals exposed by glacial melt or a reforestation area within the park.
The beauty of Human Connections & the Idea of Sankofa
The most beautiful part of this Summit was the human connections that I made. The curious minds with whom I talked about my research in the Eastern Himalayas and to whom I posed endless questions that they patiently answered. The most brilliant minds revered in their scientific fields, yet were so humble and had infectious kindness. The age-defying spirit with an attitude to conquer the world, yet possessed a soft human touch. The big personality with as big a heart, and a friend whom I came by at the airport. And the endearing local Indigenous communities who showcased their resilience and ingenuity through the work that they are doing in Peru.
One of the other best takeaways was the idea about Sankofa, that was shared by one of the facilitators, which is a Twi word from the Akan people of Ghana, and symbolises the act of moving forward by reaching backward — for the learnings and experiences from the past. Thereby symbolizing the significance of traditional values and Indigenous systems that is essential for us to design innovative solutions to the wicked problems we face today.
In this “Hatun Tinkuy” I was moved to the core by the kindness around me. The “large encounter” affirmed my faith in the path I have taken in life, guided by my passion for working with the local communities.
Food and Music were elements that brought us closer together!
This post has been edited with permission. Originally published on Abriti’s personal blog.
Acknowledgment
My heartfelt gratitude to Mountain Sentinels for organizing this event and Julia Klein for extending a sponsored invitation to attend the Mountain Summit.Special thanks to my advisor, Christopher Scott, for his encouragement and support, and Professor Andrew Wiesner for being accommodating during the semester’s finals week.
Bio
Abriti Moktan is a second year PhD Student in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management and a part of the WEF nexus cohort at Penn State University. She works with Dr. Christopher Scott. Her research interest lies within the wide spectrum of Human Ecology and is particularly focused on working in the Eastern Himalaya’s complex social-ecological systems by studying the sacred groves, water security, and adaptive capacities of the local communities in this region.
Mountains supporting Mountains: Mutual Aid Resources for Appalachia and Nepal
Climate change is causing catastrophic weather pattern changes to mountain ranges around the world. Recently, both Nepal and the Appalachian Mountains have been victim to exacerbated storms and hurricanes, leading to extraordinary flooding across the [...]
Andean Keepers of the Indigenous Systems: Celebrating the Ethos of Hatun Tinkuy in Peru
By: Abriti Moktan, Mountain Sentinels Fellow
I embarked on a short, power-packed, impromptu trip to Peru to attend the Mountain Sentinels Summit at Huaraz amidst the chaos of finals week in December. The summit’s core value revolved around Hatun Tinkuy, meaning “large encounter, getting together for a common interest towards sustainable future of the mountain communities,” focusing on the Andean understanding of science and value to influence the State’s policies. Landing in Huaraz, with a breathtaking view of the mountainous landscape, felt like a homecoming because some character of Latin America has always resonated with my native place — Darjeeling, Eastern Himalaya.
The Mountain Summit Hatun Tinkuy
This mountain summit was organized in partnership with three different organizations — the Mountain Sentinels, ABA Ayacucho, and Instituto de Montaña (the Mountain Institute) — and had participants from a broad spectrum of Indigenous member groups, academicians, researchers, scholars, and practitioners from both Peru and abroad representing the ethos of the Hatun Tinkuy — “a large encounter” of people passionately working for the mountains and the Indigenous knowledge systems.
The enmeshed connections representing the complexity and intricacy of human bonds that we were set to forge for a lifetime.
Unique Participatory Engagements
This conference had a unique feature — collaborative and participatory sessions throughout the four days of the workshop, which was visibly evident right from the introduction session, where we formed a network by passing the wool ball from one person to the other as we introduced ourselves. We provided offerings — materials that held immense value to us or some form of cultural objects — to the mountain deities, and an Indigenous elder performed the associated ritual. This personal touch set a tone for the participatory nature of the summit.
During the workshop sessions, we got into groups and had lively, in-depth discussions around various topics ranging from ethics to be applied in research, ways of building resilience within communities that we work with, Indigenous knowledge systems, adaptive management systems, and the associated work we carry out in our respective fields.
Graphic recorder Karina Branson had an uncanny power to translate the live proceedings into amazing artwork.
Ecological Rights & Water Security Emerged as Strong Themes
“Mother nature does not have a voice of its own…”
The energy of the powerful and passionate presentations by the local Indigenous communities in Spanish and Quechua could be felt even if I didn’t understand the language (grateful to the translators). There were deliveries around human-culture linkages — the intricate relationships humans share with nature — pushing for holistic nature-centric ecological rights that transcend human-centric environmental rights.
Water bodies with grassland ecosystems in the highlands of the Cordillera Blanca.
“Water is a communal property…”
The impacts of climate change and the receding glaciers hits the mountain communities directly. This gets translated into drought-prone areas and water scarcity issues, which become an everyday living experience for local Indigenous communities, the burden of which is experienced more by women in particular. However, a collaborative community effort to devise adaptive strategies drawing from their Indigenous practices shows the innate adaptive capacity of the local communities.
“Local knowledge key sustainable solution…”
The Indigenous community members presented a window for us to peek into their cosmology and the associated worldviews. The folklore behind the existence of Cordillera Blanca and the prowess in selecting the specific native plants for the bioremediation of acidified water showed the richness of their knowledge system. The local communities emphasized that ‘local knowledge,’ which constitutes the Indigenous knowledge system, is key to providing sustainable solutions.
The continuance of some of the prehispanic practices, such as building dykes, water channels, and tanks or pools, to filter water through infiltration, recharge aquifers, conserve, and most importantly, manage water testifies to the power and endurance of these dynamic traditional practices that have survived the test of time. However, outmigration from rural areas in search of better opportunities, lack of an institutional mechanism to realize ecological rights, and fracture in governance infrastructure pose an insurmountable danger that the Indigenous members are fighting head-on.
Part of the mighty Cordillera Blanca range in its full glory. The stacked rocks reminded me of a similar ritual on the hiking trails in the Eastern Himalaya.
Climb to Urushraju: More about the Journey than the Destination!
There were three different hiking options for a field trip within the Huascarán National Park. I chose to scale up to the glacial Urushraju moraine (4700m), which I realized to be overambitious of me within 10 minutes of walking with a pounding heart. Other options offered a chance to see a site using bioremediation techniques to purify waters contaminated by natural minerals exposed by glacial melt or a reforestation area within the park.
The beauty of Human Connections & the Idea of Sankofa
The most beautiful part of this Summit was the human connections that I made. The curious minds with whom I talked about my research in the Eastern Himalayas and to whom I posed endless questions that they patiently answered. The most brilliant minds revered in their scientific fields, yet were so humble and had infectious kindness. The age-defying spirit with an attitude to conquer the world, yet possessed a soft human touch. The big personality with as big a heart, and a friend whom I came by at the airport. And the endearing local Indigenous communities who showcased their resilience and ingenuity through the work that they are doing in Peru.
One of the other best takeaways was the idea about Sankofa, that was shared by one of the facilitators, which is a Twi word from the Akan people of Ghana, and symbolises the act of moving forward by reaching backward — for the learnings and experiences from the past. Thereby symbolizing the significance of traditional values and Indigenous systems that is essential for us to design innovative solutions to the wicked problems we face today.
In this “Hatun Tinkuy” I was moved to the core by the kindness around me. The “large encounter” affirmed my faith in the path I have taken in life, guided by my passion for working with the local communities.
Food and Music were elements that brought us closer together!
This post has been edited with permission. Originally published on Abriti’s personal blog.
Acknowledgment
My heartfelt gratitude to Mountain Sentinels for organizing this event and Julia Klein for extending a sponsored invitation to attend the Mountain Summit.Special thanks to my advisor, Christopher Scott, for his encouragement and support, and Professor Andrew Wiesner for being accommodating during the semester’s finals week.
Bio
Abriti Moktan is a second year PhD Student in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management and a part of the WEF nexus cohort at Penn State University. She works with Dr. Christopher Scott. Her research interest lies within the wide spectrum of Human Ecology and is particularly focused on working in the Eastern Himalaya’s complex social-ecological systems by studying the sacred groves, water security, and adaptive capacities of the local communities in this region.
