VISIT TO AN INDIGENOUS VILLAGE AND THEY INTRODUCE ME TO THE FOREST

Last night I felt an excitement which I couldn't explain and always reminded me of my Meskwakia teacher : What a pity you are not smart enough to understand all that we can teach you!

It was symbolic, there were dreams as well, of what awaited me, another unexpected pleasure of life. 

I woke up earlier than normal and was able to catch a glimpse of the sun as it rose up in the sky. Tomorrow at this time a full moon would also be present, perhaps the sun is shining so brightly in anticipation ?

I drove leisurely to an Indigenous village, savouring the sky and the environment as i moved away from the city of recent settlers.

Last night, I had received a note from my Ticuna Indigenous friend: Mother Forest Madre Selva is sad as its children as not traversing them less this year.. I did not realize her request would be fulfilled so soon.

It takes indigenous people a while to accept outsiders, whether a foreigner like me or other immigrants to their land whether they came in 1513 (they speared one of them as they tried to land from a boat ) or in 1980 in a massive boat lift..They are all welcome, if you leave them alone..

I attended to their medical needs which are few, mainly counseling about the new diseases which have arrived amidst them. 

Then one of the members of the village, said I will take you for a walk.

We walked for about a mile when we came to this clearing and a lake. you would be foolish to wade into these collections of water, as the inhabitants guard their territory well enough.

When le petite poete de côte sauvage and I was looking at the rough seas, we created a world in which , two animals, one of them spanish speaking, named Carlos and the other French speaking Francois inhabited a tropical rainforest and often communicated with us.

I told the indigenous person the story and it did not sound bizarre to her at all.But when I tell the same tale to those recent comers to this land, they would say, Francois cant speak French, he is an animal!

I should buy each of them a copy of the book, Le Petit Prince or the Little Prince.

I wanted to call out to Francois and refresh his hearing with my faulty french but there were others present who might look at me strangely.

Even though the walk was short, my indigenous friend, narrated various stories and pointed out to trees, plants and nests .

My friend pointed out to the leaves of this plant which resemble a bird, and more specifically an Anhinga.

Anhinga are found throughout Brasil and other Amazonian territories and also along the coasts in central america and the Caribbean.

On google search I could not find the name of the scientific or common name of the plant.

I told my friend about the Meskwakia and the elders who taught me to communicate with the trees and was happy to hug and greet a large tree.

 Do you remember Ta Prohm? at Angkor in Cambodia?

where the roots of the tree (was it banyan?) crushed strong temples to ruins ?

Strangler Figs also do a similar job.

In the forest they strangle the trees they attach themselves to and then strangle them.

There are rules in the forest and you follow them, what we may think of as a Long Time, for them, it is part of their evolution. My friend said, this tree has been there at least 40 years or more..

there were many nests of birds .the large birds of prey were out hunting..

I have noticed that the indigenous people have keen eyes. I noticed that San of Kalahari could identify small mounds in the desert which was invisible to me and the Aboriginal people of Northern Australia could follow a butterfly that would lead them to an edible root ..while i was wading through mud and heat..

This may have escaped my attention but it was pointed out to me that it was a scratching of a Panther claw and then the Panther leaves a smell to claim its territory.

This I was taught this is the path of a BEAR, which had come this way and crossed to the other side to disappear into the thickets.

Like Ackee fruit of Jamaica, this POND APPLE has to be picked at the right time to eat , otherwise it is poisonous enough to kill.

(I thought of the song by Alejandro Sanz, which we used to sing all the time in Baracoa, Cuba. Corazon Partido)

we were being watched all the time, it was good to give them a wide berth..

then I was taken to a tranquil lake, but was told to avoid going near water which on close inspection were guarded by the soldiers of the realm..

The sun was hot, but within a short walk of about a mile and half, I encountered so much knowledge. 

I am grateful to be a doctor to the Indigenous people around the world..

and a message to my Ticuna friend 

as soon as it is feasible, I will enter the Amazon forest, near the indigenous village of Nazaret along the River...