-My designer says, you really
want to have a sauna, and I'm thinking, why would I possibly
want to have a sauna? My name is [? Livru ?] [? Victorusu ?]. I'm a builder in Manhattan. The idea of having a sauna in
my own home was a concept presented to me when I was
renovating this space. And I proceeded to research-- so I could state with scientific
validity-- all this money, do I want
to waste it on nothing? I mean, that's be
realistic here.
I'm researching it, and I'm not
finding reason to say no. As a matter of fact, I'm finding
a mountain of data that sustains that the most
natural of the body's detoxification process-- which is to expel toxins out
of the body through sweat-- is triggered when you are
at rest and sweating. I'm resorting to larger
pieces of material. Both because of their emission
properties, and because of the ease of installation.
In this particular sauna, we
have 990 watts of power. So we've got these sections
of walls-- on three sides-- coming around that's heated,
operating temperature between 180 and 190, and that results in
an ambient air temperature of about 100. When you first walk in here,
there isn't an instant feeling of, whoa, and it takes
perhaps two, three seconds until you perceive-- indeed- there is heat coming. And then within ten
seconds it's whoa.
For the first half hour, I can
just sit in the heat, and then I need to cool off
a little bit. And once I turn the water on,
I'm obviously splashing water on the walls. And as that water evaporates,
it gets steamy in here. So the quality changes from a
dry sauna to a wet sauna upon command, and I just make more
steam by spraying some more water on the walls.
So now, I flip over to the other
side and I'm like, I. Have to have a sauna-- I can't live without it. I will do construction-- the toxin, the lead,
craziness, I'm breathing this in. I've got to detox.
-If you love home and design,
and want to see the new cooler, hipper, channel-- -Check out Spaces TV, and don't
forget to subscribe. -Click the button right here..
REBECCA MOORE: Thanks
everyone for coming. My name's Rebecca Moore. I lead the Google Earth Outreach
Intervention Teams in Geo. This is a very special talk.
Welcome to the Shaman and
political leader of the Kogi people of Colombia, and to
our friends Mark Plotkin and Liliana Madrigal of the
Amazon Conservation Team. We first started working
with ACT in 2007, almost exactly seven years ago. June 7, 2007, ACT brought to
Google the chief of the Amazon Surui tribe, Chief Almir Surui. And he explained to
us the challenges that many indigenous people
face around the world as their lands are invaded
for timber and for mining, as their traditional ways
of life are under threat, and as they struggle to maintain
their traditions and the links between the elders in the
youth in the midst of exposure to the Western world.
And ironically, Chief
Almir had discovered, as the first member of his
tribe to go to university, that Google Earth could be
a powerful tool in defending the lands of his people,
and raising awareness around the world of
how their territory was under threat, and in fact
use not only Google's mapping tools, but tools like Android
smart phones to empower indigenous people to,
as Chief Almir said, take their destiny
into their own hands, and strengthen them as a people. And in fact, through that
collaboration that was, again, fostered by ACT
working with Google and the Surui tribe has
now mapped and measured the carbon in their trees
on their traditional lands, and they've sold offsets on
the carbon marketplace that is bringing millions of dollars
of income into their tribe, and has enabled them now
to successfully resist the illegal logging. So there's a very
positive case study there of the blending
of traditional ways with modern technology. Chief Almir actually
said, the time had come to put down
the bow and arrow, and to pick up the
laptop, in order to defend and
strengthen his people.
So today, we're really excited
to have visitors from Colombia, again facilitated by
ACT, who've taught us that we're not helping. It's not about Google giving
to these people, these tribes. It's about creating
a partnership. In fact, Chief Almir was
quoted in the press as saying, the Surui don't know
much about technology, but Google doesn't know much
about the forests, and we do.
And together we can form
a stronger partnership for the benefit of
people and benefit of the environment
and the rainforest. So thank you for coming. I'm going to let Jenifer
give a little bit more of a detailed
introduction, but I. Think you're all in
for a treat today.
JENIFER AUSTIN:
Thank you, Rebecca for coming and introducing,
and for all your work in this area with
the Outreach Team. So my name is Jenifer Austin,
and I manage our Ocean Program. And I'm excited that
Mark and his colleagues are here to talk about
their work in Colombia. So first I'm going to
introduce Mark Plotkin.
So he studied at Harvard
under Richard Evans Schultes, and went on to study at
Yale, and finished his Ph.D. At Tufts, where he
studied medicinal plants in the rainforests
of South America. And I first met Mark when
the first google.Org hire-- I think that was eight
years ago-- introduced us. And she said, you've got to
meet Mark, He's really great.
He wrote this
amazing book called "Tales of the
Shaman's Apprentice." And so I was like, OK. So we hosted Mark to
come give a book talk-- I think it was eight years
ago-- and since then, it's led to a lot of the work
that Rebecca spoke about. So it's very exciting
to have him back. And with that, I'm just going
to go ahead and turn it over to you to talk about your work
with the shaman at Colombia.
Thank you, Mark. MARK PLOTKIN: Thanks Jennifer. It's great to be back here. And Jenifer and Rebecca were
the ones who ushered ACT in.
Actually we're a Trojan
horse, because we opened the door and all
sorts of Shamans pour out. That's why we're here. The power of a partnership with
Google for us is immeasurable, and I'll give you
a concrete example. Because when Rebecca and
Mark Austin and Shawn went to Brazil, we insisted they
stop at the Federal University and do a workshop.
And this is a quote. I want you to remember this. This woman raised
her hand and said, why are you here with
all these savages? And she pointed at the Indians. And Rebecca looked
at her and said, if it wasn't for
these Indians, we wouldn't be here teaching
your kids from Google.
That was a very powerful moment. Now we have lots to talk about. And I really want to
turn the floor over to our indigenous colleagues. I will say this, that outside
of the uncontacted tribes in the Amazon, these are
the most traditional people in the Western hemisphere.
When the Europeans first came
to California 500 years ago, the Incas ruled Peru,
the Aztecs ruled Mexico, and the Kogis ruled
the Sierra Nevada. There are no Aztecs,
text there are Incas, but the Kogis thrive. In the age of climate
change, these people are clearly the
masters of survival. They're the only indigenous
group that lives and manages ecosystems from the snow
fields at the top of the Sierra Nevada, 15,000 feet high, all
the way down into the oceans.
We never say or think that
these indigenous peoples know everything. Clearly they don't. But as Rebecca mentioned, we
find that Google doesn't quite know everything either. And it's that type
of partnership of you guys in the sky looking
down on the forest canopy, and these guys looking
up at the forest from underneath, which is
the type of partnership which we consider the perfect marriage
of ancient shamanic wisdom, and 21st century
Google technology.
And we're proud to
be a part of that. Now among the many things
are here to do today is launch our map
of Chiribiquete. Chiribiquete is the
largest and most important national park in the Amazon. It's the biggest repository
of pre-Colombian paintings-- over 250,000 images-- it's home
to three uncontacted tribes.
So it's biodiversity, it's
art, and it's culture. And it's fighting climate
change by keeping that forest in place. We have lots of stories to tell. But most important of all,
is we like to pat ourselves on the back and say, the
Americans at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 invented the
separation of church and state.
Well, we didn't. That was originally from
Iroquois Confederacy. And if you read Ben
Franklin's biography, you'll get more detail on that. But that's why today you
have the political leader of the Kogis, and you
have the shamanic leader-- or one of the shamanic
leaders of the Kogis-- he's actually the
keeper of the oceans.
I want you guys to hear
firsthand from them and to be able to ask them
firsthand from your questions. But I promise you this, you
will leave here frustrated, because you will
want to know more. And the idea of having these
guys come out of the forest, come away from the coast where
they're protecting the coral reefs, and be able
to address you, is the type of thing in
which we take great pride, and the type of
relationship which makes conservation sustainable
and the fight against climate change possible and successful. Because we know we
can't do it alone.
They know they
can't do it alone. And that's why they're here. Those of you who leave here
wanting more information-- which I assume will
be most of you-- are free to a great movie
called "Elder Brother's, Heart of the World." 30 Years ago, a
British filmmaker named Alan Ereira
went to Colombia, fell in love with the Kogis,
and the Kogis came down from the ice fields
and they said, hey, what are you little
brothers doing down there? You're making a
mess of the world. Our glaciers are melting.
And everybody said,
well, that's weird. That's funny. Look at those cute little hats. Well now we know what
they were talking about.
They were talking
about climate change. They were the harbingers of the
fact the climate is changing. They live close to the land. They know more
about it than we do.
They've come back to
deliver a message of worry and a message of hope, saying if
we work better with them, if we work closer with them, and
with the other indigenous people and the other
peasant people, and form these types
of new partnerships, there is hope for all of us. But I'm going to turn
it over to Liliana, who will act as
translator for the Kogis. But before we do
that, I'm going to ask Brian, our ace cartographer--
who I hope all of you will meet, especially
the engineers-- who will show a brief piece
that he just put together based on the work with
the Kogis by using some of your technology and
software here from Google. Brian.
BRIAN: Thank you, Mark. And thank you Google for
having us here today. So as Mark said, I'll be giving
a presentation in Google Earth, establishing the context of
where the Kogis are from. Talking a little bit
about the geography, and the culture, some of
the threats to the area, and also what the
Kogis and what ACT.
Are doing to help
combat these threats. So the Kogis are from the
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. It is located in
northern Colombia, on the Caribbean coast near
the border with Venezuela. This is what the Kogis call
the heart of the world.
The Kogis reside on the
northern coast of the Sierra. The reserve is just
over 400,000 hectares. There's two other indigenous
groups within the Sierra as well. The Arhuacos and the Kankuamos.
They are very culturally
similar to the Kogis, although the Kogis are probably
the most unacculturated out of the three. As you see, they have a fairly
large indigenous reserve, but unfortunately it's
just a small portion of their original
ancestral territory, which is delineated by the black
line circling the Sierra. The black line is a project
that the indigenous groups been doing to
delineate the extent of their formal
ancestral territory. The white pins represent sacred
sites, which originally started off at about 50 you see
here, but they've since been elaborating into over 350
sacred sites around the Sierra Nevada.
And they're working
very carefully to try to reestablish their
control of those sites. The Sierra Nevada is
5,771 meters high. Just over 3 1/2 miles. It's the highest coastal
mountain range in the world.
The glaciated peaks of the
Sierra Nevada, the melt water from these glaciated
peaks feeds all the rivers that flow in all directions. And these are very
sacred to the Kogis. In fact, the entire
highland area is the most sacred
area for the Kogis. It's where the Kogi
Mamos, or the priests, like Mamo Chibolata.
Only they're allowed to
go, because it's so sacred. Among the most sacred
things in this area are the glacial-fed lakes. These are thought to be the
daughters of the great mother creator. And they're also portals
to other dimensions where they can communicate
with the spirits.
And as such, the
Mamos leave offerings along the banks of these lakes. They also collect
medicinal plants. The Mamos are not only
the spiritual leaders, but they also have extensive
environmental knowledge of medicinal plants, planting
cycles, things like that. So they are really the
most important figures in the Kogi society.
So this being a
very sacred area, it plays an important
role in many of the religious ceremonies. For example, the adolescent
Kogi Mamo apprentices, they live the first nine years
of their lives in darkness. And then they're brought up
here around nine-years-old, and they are allowed
to see the world in daylight for the first time. It's hard to
imagine the awe they must feel to seeing such
a spectacular landscape for the first time after living
so many years in darkness.
So the Kogis live on the north
side of the Sierra Nevada. This is one of the
most important regions for biodiversity conservation
because it receives the most rain anywhere in
the Sierra Nevada, due to the proximity
of the ocean. So the Sierra Nevada
has many ecosystems distributed through thin belts. The snow line begins
at about 5,000 meters.
The paramo extends from about
3,000 meters above sea level to 5,000. Below that are cloud forest
ecosystems, and below that are transitional
rainforest extending down to very dry, seasonally
dry, forest along the coast. So the yellow line here is
the Kogi Indigenous Reserve. As you can see, they have very
limited access to the sea.
And this is unfortunate
because the connection between the glaciers
and sea is one of the most important
things in their culture. They bring offerings from
the sea up to the glaciers, and from the glaciers down to
the sea, representing the water cycles of the glaciers
melting, the water going down the rivers to the sea,
then being returned to the highlands
via clouds and rain. So the Kogis are very finely
attuned to this cycle, and it's because
of that that they were able to recognize the
changes that were happening in the highlands due
to climate change. And of course,
tropical highlands are some of the most affected
areas by climate change.
You can see along the
coast that there's many of the Kogi
sacred sites that are outside of their
territory, which is very unfortunate, something
we will be talking about later. Looking closer at
the Kogi villages. The typical Kogi village
is about 1,500 meters above sea level. Most of the villages are
not inhabited most the time.
The families live in
other scattered houses. And they only return
to the villages occasionally to
participate in ceremonies. So this is a photo of a village. You can see there's-- some
of the larger buildings are temples.
Some of these only
the men can enter, but they all serve very
important spiritual roles. These are some of the Kogi men. What they're holding
is called a poporo. It's a gourd filled
with crushed seashells.
And its the alkaloid
that triggers the coca leaves that they chew
almost constantly. And the coca leaves
are very important. They provide many
essential vitamins. And they also help
with the digestion of tubers such as potatoes
and manioc at high elevations.
The gourd that they have,
it symbolizes women, and the stick
represents the man. And the act of
sticking the stick in is akin to fertilization. So the coca is an important
part of their marriage cycles. And when a boy becomes a
man, he receives the poporo.
The women in the community
aren't allowed to chew coca, but they're the ones
that harvest and grow it. The threads shown here are
very important to Kogi culture. Threads are symbolic of pretty
much everything they do. Not only the threads
for the bracelets and the necklaces and
the beads, but also all the clothes, which
they make themselves.
So the Kogi Mamos tell the
rest of the community what to plant, where to plant
it, when to plant it, and they always stress
equilibrium and diversity. So they make sure that
each of the fields is planted with many
different crops, which is a way to avoid risk in
the Sierra Nevada, which is a very-- the weather
changes very frequently. And so the Kogis work from
the highlands to the lowlands. They grow potatoes and
onions in the highlands, plantains, bananas, manioc
in the mid elevations, as well as coca.
And in the lower elevations
they have more tropical fruits, as well as cash crops such
as pineapple and coffee. And this range of
elevations that they take advantage of
for food results in a lot of pilgrimages
up and down the mountain, which is a very characteristic
part of Kogi society. It's very common to see
them walking up and down the mountain, passing
coca leaves to each other as they greet each other. The Kogis maintain many
of the cultural traditions of the Tairona society, which
is the pre-conquest culture in this area.
There's still many
remnants of this society, including what's known
as the Ciudad Perdida-- the Machu Picchu of Colombia. This is the Tairona
settlement that was first inhabited around 400
A.D. And at one point, the entire Sierra
Nevada was inhabited by the Tairona
culture, particularly the Northeastern part
near the sea, which is now the location of the
city of Santa Marta. So at one point,
this entire valley along the Northwest
part of the mountains would have been
irrigated and there would've been scattered
settlements throughout.
And now it's major sprawling
cities, banana plantations, and things like that. Also notice the Parque
Tairona, in the front of the screen with the
green line around it. That's one of the most
beautiful coastal landscapes you'll ever see. It's where the
mountains meet the sea.
And it's also the
location of only one of three reefs in Colombia. The other two are actually
far away from Colombia, so this is the only reef
near the Colombian mainland. It's also of note because
there were several Tairona settlements within the park. And those are being
returned to Kogi control after having been out of
their control for many years, and victims of grave robbers
and things like that.
So there are four major
sites that the government is returning control
of to the Kogis. Which is a very positive thing. Unfortunately there
are many threats to the Kogi way of life. The first of which
is-- this is an area with a lot of carbon
extraction shipping going on.
So this is an example
of one of the coal ports around Santa Marta. There's not only
extractive industries, but this is also a very
heavily touristted area. There's resorts all
along the shores, and they're building
water slides and hotels on top of Kogi sacred sites. And just the sprawling
urban environments have really taken over
many of the sacred sites along the coast.
Also notice, this is the
first coal port in the area. It was also around this area
where just recently there was a massive coal spill
where the company had overloaded one of the barges. And in order for the
whole ship not to sink, they had to dump
coal into the bay. This was one of the worst
environmental catastrophes in Colombia.
It was recently outlined
in the Economist magazine. But this was such a
bad event that Colombia had to completely rethink
their coal exports, the way they're regulating
coal extraction and everything. So It actually
halted their exports to the United States
because of this. And they're trying
to clean it up now, but they dumped so
much coal into the bay, that it's pretty devastating.
And this is very close
to where the reefs are in Parque Tairona. Looking at the other
side of the Sierra, there's also many extractive
industries going on. This is Cerrejon. This is one of the
major mining sites.
This is along the
Rio Rancheria, which is one of the major
rivers that comes down from the glaciers to the sea. And also along the Rio
Rancheria is the major dam which has completely
stopped up the river. There's some photos. So that's--
particularly the damn.
It's really-- the Kogis
are very concerned with how we're affecting the rivers. Not only at the lower
areas, but the way that those changes are
going to affect what's happening in the highlands. And now looking at what's been
ACT and the Kogi's main area of focus, is the coastal
region along the north side of the Sierra. So this is a coal port.
And a coal power plant. And the port shown on
the left was actually built on top of one of the
Kogi sacred sites called [INAUDIBLE]. So this is the port
in construction. It's now fully
finished and they're exploring coal from here.
And this was the Kogis
trying to access this site. And the police got called in. You can't see in the band,
but this is essentially a SWAT team/riot police. They came in to
prevent the Kogis from entering their sacred site.
Now in response to
these challenges, the Kogis have been very
aggressive in trying to reclaim their territory. The Kogis are
extremely cohesive. It's very unusual for
an indigenous group, but they've managed to they
save up a lot of money, and are working to reclaim
some of their territories. Starting with Habatani Guaxaca.
This was a sacred
site that the Kogis, with help from ACT and
the Colombian government, bought last year. This is one of the
first times that they've been able to recapture
one of their sacred sites along the coast. We're also looking
at consolidating the other territory with the
other property along the Rio Jerez to the west. So you can see the Kogis are
now able to go to the site.
They built a temple there
where they can have ceremonies. They're also working on
cleaning up the beaches. Most of the beaches
in the Sierra Nevada are littered with garbage. So this is one site
where the Kogis have been able to clean up.
And it's an important
site, because it's one of the major sites where
they were able to find the sea shells they use to
trigger the coca. And this is just the
first step in the larger territorial process. As you can see, there's
many other properties-- as shown in the
orange boundaries-- that the Kogis are looking to
acquire with the goal of not only establishing another
connection from reserve to the sea, but also a
corridor along the sea to protect all those
coastal sacred sites. Not only are they looking at
acquiring some of these most sacred properties,
but they're looking at working with some
of their neighbors who are currently
practicing environmentally destructive habits
around their land.
And the Kogi have found
that these neighbors are very willing to learn to
manage their properties more sustainably if they know how. So the Kogis are
working with them to better manage these
coastal properties. So this is just an overview
of their entire territory, showing some sacred sites
they're trying to reclaim. And I guess in closing, it's
important for the Kogis, for their culture, their
diet, pretty much everything about their society,
to have this connection from the mountains to the sea.
So we think there's a lot of
potential of using programs like Google Earth
and things like that to help the Kogis
do characterizations of these properties, map out
the corridors that they're trying to preserve. And we hope to help
the Kogis reclaim their ancestral
territory and protect their coastal sacred sites. So we're going to turn
it over to the Kogis now. KOGI SHAMAN 1: [SPEAKING KOGI] INTERPRETER 1:
[SPEAKING SPANISH] INTERPRETER 2: So
good afternoon.
My name is Jose [INAUDIBLE]. I come from the Sierra Nevada
Santa Marta in Colombia. And I live in a sacred
village called [INAUDIBLE]. And we've come out to share
the message of our ancestors.
KOGI SHAMAN 1: [SPEAKING KOGI] INTERPRETER 1:
[SPEAKING SPANISH] INTERPRETER 2: So for
a very long time-- 30, 40 years, we didn't want to
come down from the Sierra. But when we did, we found
that the younger brother that is non-Kogis, have
gotten really big. And they've grown, but they've
grown in material ways. And what they've done is they
haven't grown with nature, with spirituality,
with the forest.
We continue to do that. And this is why we come
out to share this message. KOGI SHAMAN 1: [SPEAKING KOGI] INTERPRETER 1:
[SPEAKING SPANISH] INTERPRETER 2: OK. I'm sure you know we're losing
a lot in this translation.
But yeah. So it's going from Kogi to
Spanish to English, right? And this is
following a protocol, because even though he's
the governor of the Kogi, the elders are the
ones who speak. They always do that. So he has to be very
obedient about that.
But what he just said is
that our creator [INAUDIBLE]. And there are other two
names which I don't remember. [INAUDIBLE]? [INAUDIBLE]? Those are deities, creators. And they were charged with
taking care of the planet, with taking care of diversity.
And they were left with the
legacy-- a map, if you will-- of that diversity
that cannot be seen. The diversity of
thought and spirit, of being able to-- a map that
doesn't exist in writing, in material form. A map of how to
interpret the oceans. KOGI SHAMAN 1: [SPEAKING KOGI] INTERPRETER 1:
[SPEAKING SPANISH] INTERPRETER 2: He--
Mamo [INAUDIBLE] says that it is the
spirits of the trees, and the spirits of the
water, and the oceans that have conveyed to them how
sick the oceans are becoming.
[SPEAKING SPANISH] INTERPRETER 2: So he says
that the younger brother is able to fly, and is able to
have a lot of technology. And they see a lot of things. But what they don't
see is that they see. OK? So it would be very important
if you could have the two and grow in that way.
Is what I am understanding. [SPEAKING SPANISH] So it's those two. Yes, you can do a lot of things. But there are others that
you'll never be able to see.
KOGI SHAMAN 1: [SPEAKING KOGI] INTERPRETER 1:
[SPEAKING SPANISH] INTERPRETER 2: So
a long time ago when it was just indigenous
people all over South America, they didn't have any problems. But then nowadays
obviously, you know, we had to learn to
coexist with other people. And so now we need to be
able to explain to the world that in the sacred site, in
the Sierra Nevada, that's where our wisdom, our
spirituality, our culture, that's where these
things are kept. And if we don't protect them,
we're going to disappear.
So we need a map to be
able to get other people from the outside
world to understand why we are important. Because otherwise, they're
destroying us little by little out of ignorance. And so we need to
have those maps. Now yesterday I heard that
we were going to a place where they do these maps.
And I had no idea what it was. I felt that it was maybe
there was this huge apparatus, or a giant mountain. I had no idea what to expect. And I walk in here
and they say this is the place where
they make the maps.
And I said, really, this is
where these maps are made? And he says and so, we are
here because Lilia, and Mark, and Juana, and ACT
are our messengers, because otherwise we
wouldn't be able to be here. So I was shocked that you
took me to my village. And he says, I'm sitting
here, and you went down there. You took me there.
So that tells me that we
need to work together. So that people can
understand what's at stake. [SPEAKING KOGI] INTERPRETER 1:
[SPEAKING SPANISH] INTERPRETER 2: So
he wants to end by saying that he feels
really strange being here because everything is so square. No pun intended.
And but yet he sees that
you guys can see a lot. And that it would
be really great if you could work with them
in some really basic things in their territories,
so that you can see. And being here, his thoughts
will be here with you. His way of thinking
will be here with you.
There's some very
basic things that can be a huge help to them, and
thank you for receiving them. I just want to say, just
one little thing that Mamo [INAUDIBLE]-- the way that
these people make decisions, it's all by consensus, and
it's all by the elders. And everybody else is-- it
has to be very deferential. And Mamo [INAUDIBLE]
is one of the five most knowledgeable Mamos,
and he is the one that has a relationship
with the ocean.
And it was weird, because
another guy was going to come, and at the last minute he
decided he couldn't handle it. So we had already sent out
invitations with his picture on there. And then it was like,
no, he's coming. So it's been really great
because sitting around, especially at night,
talking to him, he's able to convey
information and ideas about the relationship between
the mountains, and the forest, and the oceans in ways that
are incredible and fascinating.
So it's a real treat
having them here. MALE SPEAKER: I have a question
about the Kogi language. And there must be
so much information encoded about your
tradition and the heritage that you've been
able to protect, encoded into this language. And I understand that most
members of the Kogi community are monolingual, and
right now the threat is very low of language shift.
But I was wondering if younger
members of the Kogi Community are adapting to learn Spanish. And if that is in any way a
distant or immediate threat. INTERPRETER 2:
[SPEAKING SPANISH] INTERPRETER 1:
[SPEAKING SPANISH] INTERPRETER 2: So
the way that they manage language, culture,
and everything else is, the elders manage that. And it's under their care.
And they don't
put it in writing. So the knowledge
of those who are going to be knowledge
keepers and Mamos, it's all oral transmission. INTERPRETER 2:
[SPEAKING SPANISH] INTERPRETER 1:
[SPEAKING SPANISH] INTERPRETER 2: And you
have places like the cave that they talked
about before, where the knowledge transfer happens. And they do like, reading of
bubbles, and things like that.
FEMALE SPEAKER:
What stressing signs do you see in the ocean that
are most concerning to you? INTERPRETER 2:
[SPEAKING SPANISH] INTERPRETER 1:
[SPEAKING SPANISH] INTERPRETER 2: So
the first change is along the
mountain range, it's just the climate and
how it's shifted. It's no longer its normal range. INTERPRETER 1:
[SPEAKING SPANISH] INTERPRETER 2: So
at first he said, we've been able to persevere
through a lot of-- climate change is causing
a lot of stress and causing a lot
of cultural changes. But we adapt.
Even from before, when there
was war, and illicit crops, and other threats, we adapted. But now that we're
going-- this is due to the Mamos
and the influence that they have over us. So I said but they want to know
specifically about the oceans. And what he's
saying is that, they rely on these sacred sites
for getting the offerings.
Because everything that they
use has to have an offering when its used. And so what they
are noticing is how those offerings, those materials
from the ocean, are shifting. INTERPRETER 1:
[SPEAKING SPANISH] INTERPRETER 2: So
they have-- the poporo that he has is filled
with pulverized shells-- a specific shell. And that's shifting.
And so the minute
that those disappear, they're going to
have to either adapt, or I don't know what's
going to happen, but that to them is fundamental. And that's changing. INTERPRETER 1:
[SPEAKING SPANISH] INTERPRETER 2: And
so before, they used to live a very long time. It was normal to live to 120.
But people are living
shorter lives now. And they see that as a weakness. [SPEAKING SPANISH] INTERPRETER 1:
[SPEAKING SPANISH] INTERPRETER 2: So
they're finding-- they're doing these
surveys to recognize-- to do surveys of the sacred
sites along the coast. And what they found is
that a lot of the shells that they use, they're deformed.
Totally deformed. Or huge. REBECCA MOORE: We
probably have to stop now. But I wanted to give you
guys all a 20% opportunity, including Google Colombia.
That we're going
to be having lunch in Crave with our guests
from Colombia and ACT. You're welcome to join us. If you're interested
in collaborating on this kind of project,
contact me or Jenifer. If you have any
time and you want to get into using Google Earth,
Google Maps, or some whatever tools might be useful
to help them on behalf of the little brother
working with these indigenous folks from Kogi.
So please thank them for
bringing the message to us..
Well hello hello. For today's video we're going to take you
to a Jjimjilbang () which is a Korean bathhouse and spa. Yeah, so this Korean sauna () is
really popular - especially on the weekends with families. People of all ages.
So we're going to give you a complete tour
aside from the naked parts. Yeah, because there is more to a bath house
than just scrubbing down and getting naked. Apparently, they also have rooms where you
can nap, watch Korean dramas, eat food. So we're going to show you all of that.
And the place we're taking you is probably
one of the most famous bathhouses in all of Seoul. And it is massive. There is basically five floors. So we're going to give you a really good tour
of that.
Let's go. Girls wear red and boys wear brown. Now I'm going to go change. Bye.
So this is in case you're interested and the
outfit of the day. I have my Princess Leia towel, orange t-shirt,
red shorts and barefoot. That's what you wear at a Jjimjilbang. So before we can explore the Jjimjilbang ()
we need food.
It is lunchtime and I haven't eaten yet. Okay so this is my very first time at a Jjimjilbang
so I don't really know what to expect. But Sam here is an expert and he's been coming
on almost a daily basis. So tell us all about it will you.
So while we wait for our food I'll explain
a little bit. So the Jjimjilbang () portion is
basically a common area from the second floor up until the fifth floor. And you have all of these kinds of different
rooms. You have a PC Bang (PC) where you can go
on the computer, you have all of these different sleeping areas.
You have these different steam rooms that
have different variations of temperature. You have restaurants. A whole bunch of different stuff. But the actual sauna part, the part where
you get naked and you go down into the sauna, is men and women only.
Segregated. Yeah, it is segregated. And so you go into the sauna, the Korean bath
house (), and you have basically all of these different kinds of hot tubs. And some of the hot tubs have special kind
of water.
Like there is one has like mud and then all
of these different other ones. There is a jade one for example. Different minerals. They are supposed to have different kind of
health properties.
So you go into those and you also have within
there you also have the sauna itself. You go into the rooms where you sweat and
then you have steam rooms and then you have, which is one of my favorite things, it is
kind of like I call it the polar plunge pool. And it is ice cold. So after you've been sweating for a long time
you go from the extreme heat into the extreme cold.
So that is my favorite. That is very Canadian of you Sam. The polar plunge. The polar plunge.
Of course. Just like a polar bear from Canada. Hahaha. Nice.
Our food is ready! Eye yigh. Everything is so hot. Ooh. That could have been an accident right there.
My little arms were shaking with the tray. So for our first Jjimjilbang () meal
together we decided to go with a couple of our favorites. Owe! What? The rice is burning hot. Hahaha.
Anyways. So give us a tour. These are our two go-to dishes whenever we
are at a restaurant. These are our favorites.
So first up we have the dolsot bibimbap (
). This is the stone pot rice with all of the
different vegetables and mushrooms and a raw egg on top. And it is really cool because you mix it around
and then it starts cooking in the pot. And then we also got the Sundubu jjigae ()
which is a tofu soup with a spicy tofu stew and that comes with rice.
This is how I burnt my finger just now. Touching that. Don't touch it. And then we have a whole bunch of other side
dishes.
We have kimchi () over here. And this is also something really cool. This is called Miyeokguk ((). And you can actually order that on its own.
I think when you order it on its own it is
cold but this is basically your Korean seaweed soup. And this is very typical to find in a Jjimjilbang
(). Yeah, it is very light broth. One of the characteristic foods you'll find
along with sikhye () which is your Korean rice drink and along with kyeran which is
your Korean style egg.
Hard boiled egg. Actually they are not boiled. They're cooked in the hot rooms. Oh yeah, that is right.
And then the other one that you can find. This one is to cool off is the Patbingsu (()
which is your basically shaved ice along with your beans and other assorted fruits. We'll have some of that later. Yeah, we're going to have that later on in
the day.
Let's dig in. Dig right in. I kind of want to eat yours. Yours looks so good.
So does yours. Just by looking at it I can tell that I think
the quality is going to be really high here. How is that? It's good stuff. Spicy.
Woah! Ready to mix yours? Oh yeah. Come check this out. So I'm just going to give it a really good
stir. Look at those colors.
Yeah. It is beautiful. What a thing of beauty. Oh la lah.
You can see why this is one of our favorite
Korean dishes. Oh and the crispy rice. And the best part guys is when you're having
dolsot bibimbap. Is let the rice burn a little bit on the bottom.
That is so delicious. Yeah. That is my favorite part of the whole bibimbap
(). The burnt rice at the bottom.
So right now we're on the entertainment floor
and this is the movie room. The movie starts at three PM so we still have
a few hours but aside from that we've also noticed there is a table tennis rooms, there
is a reading room, computer rooms. What else? I feel like there is so much to do here. And it is just only on one floor.
Yeah, so let's keep exploring. So if chilling out wasn't enough you can come
to the workout room and try to get buff. Is that how you work out? No? Show us the proper technique. So we're heading inside the charcoal room.
It is only twenty two degrees and that is
the coldest room we've been able to find. Aside from the ice room. The others are like fifty or sixty degrees
which is just unbearable for me. Yeah, that would be bad for the camera.
So let's go in. Quietly, because people are sleeping. Okay, so right now we're heading up to the
fifth floor. This is the sleeping rooms.
So we'll have to be very quiet. Come. I'm going to sleep in a cave. Okay, so Sam it about to head to the sauna
slash bath house part of the Jjimjilbang.
So I'm just going to stay here in the entertainment
room, watch tv, read my kindle. I'm going to get naked and sweat for a while. You go ahead and do that. And then when I come back up I think we'll
have a patbingsu.
So that is the plan as of now. Bye Sam. So the cutest thing ever happened today. I was in the sauna for like forty five or
fifty minutes and I come back up to the forth floor and you were sound asleep.
I was asleep. On the hard mat. With all of the other people. I don't know how I fell asleep.
It was just so relaxing even though the floor
is hard. So I've just woken up and now we're going
to have some dessert. We have ordered Patbinsu, which is a really
nice summer dessert. It is made with shaved ice and red bean paste.
And we also have shikye. A rice drink. Sweet rice drink. Yeah it is really good.
Check this out guys. I don't know if you can see this but there
is actually chunks of rice in the sikhye (). So let's try that. You can actually buy this in a can at GS 25
but it is so much better when it is fresh.
Look at those chunks of rice in there. So refreshing. So sweet. And like that it is cold because it is a little
bit warm in the Jjimjilbang.
Yeah, you're actually sweating right now. Yeah. We can see those beads. Actually it is probably just I'm a bit wet
from the shower.
Oh okay. Excuses excuses. And the patbingsu () has arrived. Yeah, so let's mix this.
It is basically shaved ice. We have the red bean paste. We have some corn flakes, chunks of fruit. What else is in here? It is a bit of a surprise so we're just going
to mix it together.
Little bit of everything. I think there is some other kinds of jellies
and some sauce. And some kind of nut powder as well. Try a bite of that.
So this should be refreshing. Brain freeze? Trying not to get one. So how is that? It is good. It is refreshing.
It is ice-y. So another thing we've noticed here at the
Jjimjilbang is that people wear towels on their head. They kind of look like the Princess Leia buns
so I'm going to show you how to fold your towel that way. So you basically take this and fold it into
thirds.
So like that. Like so. Like so. This is how it is done.
And then you take the ends and you roll it
out like a doughnut several times. So let's do that. First donut. Second doughnut.
This is my first time doing so, so it may
not be perfect. Now the other end. So you've got basically donuts on both sides. That is pretty cool.
And I think they wear the towels on their
heads because they are going in to a lot of the hot rooms. The steam rooms. So I don't know maybe they are just trying
to retain heat or something. And that is where the head goes.
Tada. Do I look like Princess Leia? Yeah, you kind of do. Ha, now okay your turn. The completed look.
Princess and Prince Leia. Hi! So we've been in the Jjimjilbang for a few
hours and I think we're ready to wrap up the experience. This was my first time here and it was pretty
cool. Even though I didn't go in the showers or
the sauna.
Maybe next time. Maybe next time. Well, I got the full experience here and I
have to say for the price you pay it is only 10,000. Ten thousand Korean Won.
Which is about roughly say about nine US dollars. Just a bit over that. It is incredible value. Like I think something like this maybe in
North America or Europe might be fifty or one hundred dollars.
So to be able to come here for such a cheap
price and experience all of these cool rooms and get full access for the sauna and Jjimjilbang. It kind of feels like you're going to a hotel
for the weekend. Or like a spa. It really does Yeah, so you're just very relaxed
and lounging around.
It is a pretty cool experience. You can see why it is so popular here in Korea
and if you find yourself traveling in Seoul or anywhere in Korea, because you can find
these all over Korea, definitely check out a Korean sauna, Korean bathhouse and Korean
Jjimjilbang. There you go. Ta ta!.
- Hi, I'm Sage. Welcome to Heal With Heat TV. Today we're here in the Clearlight sauna and we're gonna be
talking about the brain. It's something that is
essential for well being.
If you try living one day without a brain, you might find you don't feel really well. So what we're going to be talking about specifically is
how the infrared sauna or even regular saunas have been shown to benefit the brain over the course of one's life. We're looking today at
a Finnish study that was done including over 2300 participants. So this is a big serious study and not only was it
including a lot of people but it was also studied over the course of 20 years.
So this isn't just a study that was done over the course of say two weeks but this was an extensive study done over a long period of time. And what they found when they looked at these people is they took two groups, one group took saunas just once a week. The other group took saunas between four to seven times a week. And the individuals in the four to seven times a week
group actually were shown to have 65% less chance of Alzheimer's and 66% less chance of dementia.
Now there's a 1% difference there and it's extremely important
and very significant but not to us, right? So the real take-away- here is there's a significant drop in incidents of Alzheimer's and dementia when you're taking saunas four to seven times a week as opposed to just once per week. Now of course you're probably curious why is this happening. Well the doctors that performed the study, identified a few possible root causes. There wasn't one definite reason that was specified but they identified some possible causes and
it's quite probable that these are all contributing.
The first was that your cardiovascular health improves from using the sauna. Your heart is pumping more blood, it's moving more blood through the body, your circulation is improving. So when you have better circulation, it means more blood
also going to the brain. More blood going to the
brain means more oxygen going to the brain, more nutrients carried to the brain.
More things that are toxic being carried out of the brain. So this is fantastic for long term cognitive health. The other reason that they looked at, was that it's bringing down stress. The infrared sauna is great at helping you to relax and bringing
down stress and anxiety and in our modern world we are so stressed all the time.
In our ancestral situation, maybe you had to run away from a large predator and you were stressed for a little while but then your stress came back down. And for most of the time you were pretty chilled out. In our modern world we are in a constant and perpetual state of stress, which just overworks our brain, overworks our nervous system and we just get fried,
from constantly having too much activity going on, in our body, in our nervous system, and in our mind. So when you can use
something like a sauna, to help bring down that stress and re-regulate your nervous system, it's amazing for getting things back under control and it is been shown to have real long time cognitive benefits.
And the third reason which actually wasn't specified in the study, but that I feel is really
worth while mentioning, and I think you'll agree, is the detoxification effects. In our modern world, we're exposed to toxins all over the place, from the air we breathe
to the food we eat, to the household products we're using. And lots of these toxins are what are called mitochondrial toxins. They inhibit your cell's ability to produce energy.
Less energy means everything is not gonna be working as
well throughout your body including your brain. So if we're in the sauna sweating out these toxins and also getting them out through the other channels of elimination, we're gonna have a lower
toxic load in the body. That's going to allow
everything to be working at a higher level. So thanks so much guys for going us and I hope you will consider using a sauna as a part of your regular
program to make sure your cognitive health is protected well into the later years of your life.
Thank you for going us. We'll be back here next week, same time, same place
and I hope you come take a sauna with me. Thanks so much..
- Hi, I'm Sage. Welcome to Heal With Heat TV. Today were gonna be talking about the skin health benefits of using an infrared sauna. When you start to sweat in the sauna, it's gonna start clearing out your pores and clearing out your skin ducts.
Your skin is your largest
detoxification organ in your body and it's important that we're using it to its fullest extent. When you're clearing these out, it's gonna help to remove bad bacteria, toxicity, and other impurities that have no business being in your skin. Then, the improved circulation that comes from using the infrared
sauna is also gonna help because it's gonna start to carry nutrients to your skin that may not have been reaching it before. So when your skin is clear, and when you have great circulation, you're just gonna be absolutely glowing and you'll be so glad you
gave infrared sauna a try.
Thanks so much for joining us. It's been a pleasure
sharing this with you. If you'd love to see
more videos like this, please subscribe or follow us and we'd love to see you again next time. We'll be here same time,
same place next week in the infrared sauna and we hope you'll come and join us.
