The article “Sharing One Skin” by Jeannette Armstrong is about her Traditional Native Columbian beliefs. She talks about how we are closely related to the earth and everything on it in a spiritual sense. She explains how everything has a soul and every person has a corporeal being. She does this by talking about the four individual beings inside of us, which are the Physical self, Emotional self, Thinking/Intellectual self, and the Spiritual self. She then talks about how we are starting to lose the connection to the earth, because of technology & modern items of today.

Armstrong, Jannette “Sharing One Skin: The Okanagan Community.” The Case Against The Global Economy, Sierra Club Books 1996. Pp 460-470.

The first article that I read was an article from National Geographic Magazine. It was a very interesting article about Biodiversity. What was interesting about this article is, it explained how indigenous tribes all around the world have learned to live in sync with mother earth while preserving biodiversity. The article also gives examples of different tribes and how they learned to live with the earth. The biggest example of biodiversity it gives is in the start of the article. The start of the article talks about the Oriente region of Ecuador in South America, and the great example of biodiversity that the Napo Moist tropical rainforest has. From the scarlet and green colored macaws, big beaked toucans, and many other birds to the fish in the river. The Napo tropical rainforest is the most biodiverse place on earth and is part of the Yasuni National Park. Yasuni is home to about 600 species of birds, 200 mammals, 500 fish, 600 trees, and over 100,000 insects. In the same rain forest about 80 miles south of the Yasuni park is a indigenus tribe called Sapara people or the children of “Aritaku” The howler monkey. The article states that Indegenus peoples of the amazon have proven to be the best guardians of their lands. It also states that the Amazons rich ecosystems today are evidence that indugenus cultures have mastered living in balance with the environment. There are about 200 Sapara people that live in Ecuador and the same number in Peru. They used to be a thriving nation with 20,000 to 30,000 people, but like most tribes died off from european diseases. Now they battle the Ecuador government for the land. The Ecuador government sees them as an obstacle for economic growth as they push forward for Oil development on the Saparas land that the government thinks is “underpopulated and unutilized”. The Sapara tribe are not the only ones who have to battle for their land. Around the world tribes are who have been moved from their home lands due to modernization. All tribes hold a big role in fighting for the health of the earth. 370 million indigenous people make up less than 5% of Earth's population, but are responsible and manage 25% of the world's land and support 80% of global biodiversity. The world is now recognizing that the huge role us indegenus people have in the health of earth.

The second article I read was also about a indigenous tribe that calls a rainforest home. The tribe is the Matsigenka who live in Peru’s Manu National Forest. Manu National forest is also home to a variety of animals. Biologists think that the Matsigenka who live in the national park can be a threat to the biodiversity in the park. The Matsigenka hunt with only bow and arrows due to no gun laws. Mastigenka only take what they need and do not over hunt, but western biologists fear that if they get a hold of firearms they will over hunt certain important species in the park. The biggest threat to the park is the Peru government who wants to use the park for natural gas extraction, logging, and mining. The Matsigenka are the smallest threat that the park faces. The matsigenka don't see themselves as a human in the rainforest. They see themselves as another animal in the rainforest, they see themselves as a part of nature. There is a tribe in the manu rainforest called Mashco-piro who are still very isolated and have little to no contact with today's word. They still live how they would in the old days. Since the rubber boom days when rubber trees were being tapped for their rubber. The Mashco-piro have kept to themselves and kept their traditional hunter gatherer lifestyle. Recently Mashco people have been spotted on the beach of the national park looking for food. They have been pushed out of their homelands by the k mining, logging, and natural gas industries. These people are not a threat to the forest they help and work together with the forest to protect it and its animals. The Peru government wants to put a road through the rainforest for tourists and biologists but Matigenka and Mascho-Piro fear the road will just open opportunity to illegal logging and natural gas extraction.