http://blancke.org/DAview1.html
Taita Alberto Taxo Pandemic Speech, May 2020
A very good day to everyone.
My thanks to the staff at the Casa de Cultura who made this possible, and especially to Mama Patricia Noriega.
At present, in this moment of pandemic in which all of us human beings are living, in my way of seeing it, it is good for us to remember that 520 years ago a terrible disaster happened to Abya Yala (South America); the number of deaths recorded is calculated to be greater than 7 million indigenous people who were sacrificed either to pandemics or to the sword and the Cross. But we, the indigenous, are like the straw of the Paramo grasslands. They burn us and think they have eliminated us, but we grow back, reborn stronger and with more wisdom.
In recent months we, the indigenous Kichwa people have been saying, “Chaupi punllapi tutayarka,” or, “In the splendor of daily life, night befell us.” A catastrophe happened to us over 500 years ago and another is happening now. Then, “Chaupi tutapi pacarinka,” was heard in the original peoples’ villages, or, “In the middle of the night, confusion, terror and fear, dawn will break.” We are at that point. It is getting lighter, not just in everyday life but in this pachakuti, this current life cycle. For humanity in general, as well as the indigenous, dawn is breaking fully, and we will have a life that is entirely different.
Many people are talking a lot about how we must look after Mother Nature and address pollution, contamination, and global warming, etcetera, but very little has been done. But from my perspective Mother Nature herself has everything in her hands, her breast, her being, for transforming herself, protecting herself and healing herself. So regardless of how much we talk about it, Mother Nature herself is doing it.
However, we are now in a dawning, and it is important for all of us humans, non-indigenous and indigenous, to understand that we need to take maximum advantage of this circumstance in which we will be transformed and form a different way of life. We will have more awareness. Already the purification of the air, the rivers, and the environment is palpable. Our hearts, minds, thoughts and senses have matured as well. We need to persevere in this way to make it possible for Nature to influence us internally to a much greater extent so that we may transform, and in future transcend those things that are not fundamental to existence so that life is in harmony with Mother Nature.
We need to feel, not just think, but to feel we are part of Mother Nature. Don’t just say inside your head, “Yes, we are part of Mother Nature,” but feel it, that we are a great part of Nature. This will help us a great deal.
I give thanks to the Great Spirit of Life and to all those Beings who seize on opportunity and dream. May all of us benefit and find ourselves better off than we were before.
Thank you.