When lightning strikes near a Ngäbe house, tradition requires summoning people (for a period of four days) to participate in the traditional “jeiki” dance. The dance involves all the guests, placing their arms on the shoulders of the person in front of them, thus forming a long line and following the steps and the beating of the maracas and the sacred songs. In one of the ancient myths that explains the cosmic order of the ngäbe, lightning is a twin who ascended into heaven, while his sister, turned dragon, went into sea. The dance, at this time, is intended to “scold” the lightning, so that he knows that he is not welcome near the place of the family dwelling and that it would be better to strike the place where his sister dwells, namely the sea. The sacred dance is intended to restore the cosmic order, where all beings have their place and function.

There are many Ngäbe examples that focus on maintaining a natural balance: the cycles of the earth — sowing, caring and harvesting — are accompanied by rites and practices that recognize the order established by Ngöbö (God). The “dänkien” or guardians of the various species protect them and send messages to humans when they exceed appropriate limits/boundaries at home or when fishing. An elderly Ngäbe, speaking about the importance of being humble in the face of the mystery of God that is revealed in his act of creation and about our responsibility to maintain a natural balance, stated: We must not change what God has done. We must leave creation as it is, not make big changes. Sometimes we have to knock down the mountain, but that is to plant and to survive. The Ngäbe, like other indigenous peoples, have maintained reciprocal practices for thousands of years because they have understood that every action has a consequences and therefore, it is up to them to understand their place and responsibility in the plan of the Creator … they are active participants in action of perpetual creation.

The Pandemic and natural balance

The present pandemic should lead the human family to a profound reflection on the historical errors that have resulted in an infirm world. Several interrelated issues have emerged during the pandemic: socio-economic inequality, labor fragility for the working class, weaknesses of state health policies, and systemic racism that has resulted in high mortality rates among minorities and certain ethnic groups. In this reflection, I want to focus on the ecological issues: the connection between the pandemic and the destruction of our Common House, in addition to the ways in which the peoples of Good Living, such as the Ngäbe, can guide us on the post-pandemic path so that we do not continue leading the planet Earth and all its inhabitants towards destruction.

We have seen, from the international news and social networks, the images of places in the world where the environment has improved due to the decrease in tourism, traffic and industry during the pandemic. We are struck by seeing crystal clear waters in rivers and canals for the first time in decades, satellite photos of pollution-free cities or wild animals confidently entering urban areas. They are images that point to the natural imbalance that an indifferent world has accepted in the industrialization process. However, they can also be signs of hope, examples of the possible restoration of the planet if we commit ourselves to doing this together as a human family.

 In much of the world, the current model of “progress” model has created powerful extractive and productive interventions, which result in the destruction of entire ecosystems. This reality is intimately connected with the pandemic that we are presently experiencing. In a scientific way, the specific origin of the new coronavirus, possibly originated in bats, etc. is being investigated. Nevertheless, animals and nature themselves do not threaten us, rather it is our developmental interventions that destroy entire ecosystems, resulting in threats and consequences such as pandemics. The continued destruction of ecosystems promises more global pandemics.

The relatively new discipline of “Planetary Health” focuses on the relationship between human health and the integrity of ecosystems, inseparable realities, but not given much consideration in the neoliberal political-economic model. We have not been able, as a global community, to imagine a socio-economic model that is cyclical, ecological and solidaristic instead of the dominant model based on extraction, production, consumption and discard. The direct relationship between the pandemic and the common environmental destruction in “developed” societies is not being taken into consideration by government officials and big business, who ignore the evidence of the human impact on environmental degradation and try to force “reactivation” at all costs from the same savage capitalist economy that treats nature as “market goods”.

Guidelines from the perspective of indigenous concept of Full Life 

The current model and the political-business decisions that protect this model are based on a vision that keeps the human being “outside” of creation and with little possibility of interacting with it in a responsible manner. We have lost our place and identity in the Common Home, convinced that we can occupy the position of creator instead of recognizing that we are creatures. In light of this erroneous understanding, indigenous peoples teach us that all of God’s creation is one network of life that includes us as human being. The Ngäbe, for their part, place us in the “Ju Ngöbökwe”, the house of God, which encompasses all of creation and the cosmos.

During the last decades, the Church has begun to pay attention to indigenous worldviews, wisdom and practices, especially regarding their relationship with creation. Recent church statements, although they have been slow to recognize this reality, propose an intimate relationship of the human being with all creation, affirming that as believers, we do not look at the world from without but from within, conscious of the bonds with which the Father has linked us to all beings (Laudato Si’). The Apostolic Exhortation, Querida Amazonia, affirms: if the care of people and the care of ecosystems are inseparable, this becomes especially important in places where “the forest is not a resource to be exploited; it is a being, or various being, with which we have to relate” (#42). This is language that is far removed from the concept of “dominion over” nature in service of the human person, a concept that dominated Christian understanding of the relationship between the human person and creation for many centuries.

The indigenous concept of Full Life, which is not grounded on unbridled competition and the accumulation of goods, teaches the western world that there are alternatives to their supposed concept of “progress” or development. Summarizing the concept of Full Life in Querida Amazonia, Francis states that indigenous people know how to be content with little; they enjoy God’s little gifts without accumulating great possessions; they do not destroy things needlessly; they care for ecosystems and they recognize that the earth, while serving as a generous source of support for their life, also has a maternal dimension that evokes respect and tender love. Indigenous peoples express an authentic quality of life that involves personal, familial, communal and cosmic harmony and finds expression in a communitarian approach to existence, the ability to find joy and fulfillment in an austere and simple life, and a responsible care of nature that preserves resources for future generations (Querida Amazonia, #71).

It should be noted that after several decades of struggle against megaprojects on their lands (mining, dams), the Ngäbe people (in 2012) achieved the enactment of an environmental protection law for their land, which, among other aspects, prohibits mining for any metal. The promises of wealth and supposed “development” by the government and transnational corporations did not convince the Ngäbe to allow the massive destruction of their land, which would also result in the destruction of their practices of harmony with Mother Earth, the human family and God.

Toward another possible world

This pandemic reveals the roots of a crisis that is essentially a life crisis It has had the unexpected effect of forcing us to reevaluate what is essential in order to live with dignity as individuals and as
a people. Furthermore, in the midst of the sadness of this crisis, we have witnessed the great capacity of human beings to make sacrifices for the good of others. Although there are examples of selfishness in some settings, many people in various countries have been able to make sacrifices, completely change their way of life and daily activity for the good of the other, especially the most vulnerable. This reveals humanity’s ability to change and implement a different model when confronted with an imminent threat.

The great task, then, will be to make this spirit of solidarity and willingness to sacrifice for the good of others a permanent reality in order to confront climate change and environmental degradation in general … establishing a new human lifestyle and a renewed relationship with Mother Earth. If we want to avoid more pandemics, we have to take our place and role in the care of the Common Home very seriously and commit ourselves not to return to life as “normal” when this pandemic passes. We can begin this process of change with a new vision of the integrity of all creation and our responsibility to maintain it. We can affirm that everything is related and interconnected. This can open a new dawn for us in which the integrity of ecosystems are respected because each creature is important in the Creator’s plan.

Hopefully  the crystalline waters of the rivers and the clean air in the cities are not just temporary effects  of a health crisis, but become the new standard of coexistence in the sacred dance of on-going creation, an important moment of change of direction for humankind that is able to learn from the indigenous peoples that another world is possible.

By: José Fitzgerald, CM

[José Fitzgerald is a priest of the Congregation of the Mission, founded by Saint Vincent de Paul. He received a doctorate in theology at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana and is author of the book, Danzar en la casa de Ngöbö: Resiliencia de la Vida Plena Ngäbe frente al neolibaralismo (Dance in the house of Ngöbö: Resilience of Ngäbe Full Life in light of neoliberalism), Editorial Abya Yala, 2019. Since 2005, he has ministered among the Indigenous Ngäbe].