The Weekly Shot: Celebrating Indigenous Traditions in Venezuela

5 January 2018
Venezuela - Quinaroa CC

Quinaroa Cooperation Circle, based in Venezuela, upholds and keeps ancestral heritage alive by practicing Indegenous methods of agriculture, education, and nature preservation.

Last September, the members of Quinaroa Cooperation Circle gathered near the Urao lagoon in Mérida, Venezuela’s Yohama Park, which is affected by a severe drought. They organized a traditional water blessing, presenting corn, chicha, cacao, chimo, and fruit “to give back what the lagoon has given for so long: wisdom and food.”

Children, young people, and old people alike danced in honor of their ancestors, singing from the heart, and opening their thoughts in union with all their brothers and sisters of the world. Not only did the blessing include all ages, but also participants of many faiths, including: Indigenous people, Quakers, Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, agnostics, and Evangelicals.

“The power [of multiple religions] to gather from the harmony of their hearts…is a way to build a path to peace,” says Enoé Texier, Regional Coordinator for URI-Latin America and the Caribbean.

Learn more about Quinaroa Cooperation Circle’s ongoing work here.