The president of the Commission 3 of the Provincial Parliament, Legislator Laura Colazo, conducted a meeting with the indigenous people communities. This is an initiative from the Green deputy to include them in the decision making within the Consultative Commission of the Indigenous Forests (CCIF). « We have the opportunity to acknowledge and make the autochthonous people of our Province visible who have lived and still live on these lands and offer a historical rectification, she declared. She also mentioned the necessity to expand the energetic matrix of the province to support a sustainable production process.
Source: https://www.radiouniversidad.com.ar/2024/08/26/dictamen-para-que-pueblos-originarios-participen-en-el-consejo-consultivo-provincial-de-bosques-nativos/ Translated from Spanish into French by the Karukinka association.
Río Grande. Last Thursday, Legislator María Laura Colazo (Green Party) attended a new meeting of the Natural Resources Commission n°3, which she presided. This was the occasion to discuss her initiative dedicated to “The 109/24 Case” with the aim of promoting the permanent integration of the representatives of the autochthonous people to the Consultative Commission of the Indigenous Forests (CCIF).
To this motive, the Parliamentary appreciated the attendance of the members of the communities: Rafaela Ishton and Paiakoala. “We have the opportunity to acknowledge and make the autochthonous people of our province visible who have lived and still live on these lands, and to offer a historical rectification”, declared Colazo.
The Parliamentary also underlined the utmost importance of the Selk’nam and Yagán people’s voices being part of the CCIF and that they have their place in this consultative body. “This is why we invited them, we wanted to have their support.”
She also added that this way they are “integrated” into the territorial discussion and planning processes. The Selk’nam people is the only autochthonous people who own their community propriety title”, she added.
It’s worth noting that the initiative includes amendments to provincial law n°869. In Article 14 of the aforementioned standard, the paragraph “q” is added, which specifies the integration of a representative for each indigenous community from the province with a legal status registered on national level.
Eleonora Anderson Varela, herself, from Rafaela Ishton’s community was thankful for this space: « We are delighted to have a place at the CCIF, this is a historical event for us. The community owns approximately 36000 hectares of which 80% are made of forests”, she declared.
Another member of the community, Alexis González Palma, told them “It is very important for us because they are giving us back our dignity and the possibility to tackle issues which affect us as autochthonous people of these lands”, he declared.
It’s worth noting that Tarcisio Vargas and Damián Nenes Vargas, from the Yagán people, also attended the Commission meeting as representatives of the Paiakoala community.
« Today, the autochthonous people are beginning to be respected. Taking care of our forests is good not only for the communities but also for the totality of the population. We risk losing the canelo and need to take care of it together”, declared Vargas, a Yagán referent.
Legislatofs Raúl Von Der Ensuren and Lechman (SF), Juan Carlos Pino (PJ), Federico Greve and Federico Sciurano (FORJA), as well as Legislatir Gisela Dos Santos (SF) were present.
Two million dollars for the Native Forests
It’s worth noting that Legislator María Laura Colazo attended the second annual meeting of the Consultative Commission of the Indigenous Forests of which she is a member, and which was held at Tolhuin Tourism Secretary beginning of August.
On that occasion, the working paths which will be followed were analysed, after it was learnt that the “Green fund for the climate» programme, which will be run through United Nations Organisation for food and agriculture (FAO), and rising from an initiative led by the national government and the province and called Reduction of the Emissions related to the Deforestation and Degradation of the forests (REDD).
The programme comes to the Land of Fire with a component which will be dedicated to the forest conservation work with the autochthonous communities, among which the global community Plan with Rafaela Ishton’s Selk’nam community and also at the productive development of the forestry bay of Tolhuin; the other component will also be used for the prevention of wood fire at the interface of Ushuaia. It’s worth noting that, according to the programme of fire prevention at the forest-urban area interface, we mean by fire a “fire which grows in the transition areas between the urban, rural or forestry areas where the structures of the buildings are mingled with the plants».
Approximately two million dollars will be allocated to the Land of Fire province “and the project in general, as mentioned by Engineer Francisco Jofré who is FAO’s representative which is in the province, is approximately 85 million dollars for the totality of the country in this programme called RedMás, a specific programme also related to the climatic change.
Members of the Forest National Board of Management and the FAO for the Payments at Results project attended the meeting, as well as managers of the provincial government and representatives of the institutions forming the CCIF.
It’s worth noting that the United Nations Organisation for the food and agriculture better known as FAO and a specialised agency of UNO leading international activities which aims at eradicating hunger.
The organisation is conducting several projects implemented all around the country. It plays a fundamental role in striving towards food safety, family farming reinforcement, transformation of food-processing systems and sustainable development.
“A lot of families live off the forestry sector”
During a talk with “La Mañana de Tecno”, broadcast on Radio Universidad 93,5 MHz, the Green Parliamentary reminded that the forestry consultative commission “is taking place under the 869 provincial law and is a environment composed of various actors” who are related to everything concerning the use of the whole forestry sector, what is active in our province. So, as a representative of the legislative Assembly, I have to be part of this space.”
Laura Colazo explained that « the members of FAO, an international organisation under the United Nations, benefit from specific financing programmes used to manage several projects in our country. And in this project which is very important and in the making in 23 provinces : we are working on those 3 issues in our province, which are the ones we talked about within the commission in order to grant approval to all the members to make progress in this area, while being able to follow through the community integration plans that the Forestry General Board of Directors works very well with the Selk’nam persons who have set up their authorities very recently, who have held elections. And the truth is that they have very interesting projects to be accomplished in our province, particularly in their community propriety, which represents 35 000 hectares owned in the Tolhuín region. And it is very important to achieve sustainable use, and the truth is that we think it is also important to assist them because it requires means to fulfil these projects.”
« For us, it’s very interesting to provide some assistance, everything needs to be done step by step. The technical advice mission will be carried out by means of organisations such as CIEFAP (Andine centre for the forestry research and vulgarisation of Patagonia), an organisation which has also been working in our province for many years and will provide all the technical advice, so it also seems important to do this. When I say that Tolhuin’s mayor (Daniel Harrington) is present in the area, it’s because it comes down to stimulate the productive development of this sector so that it keeps on generating work sources such as in Tolhuin today.
With regard to this, Legislator Laura Colazo noticed that “a lot of the families live off work in the forestry sector and it seems important to add on value, to be able to create training, to be able to use all these resources in a sustainable way and all the way through the production line, not only in raw wood but also in the use of forestry residues.
She understood that “there is a great opportunity to create more productive companies, to generate more work while taking care of the environment, because we are talking here of forestry residues which, in some cases are burnt and could generate a transformable product, raw material” then able to generate new products which “ can be part of the circular economy paradigm, by salvaging them and reintroducing them into the productive sector».
« Productive matrix and energetic matrix go hand in hand»
The Green Parliamentary understood that “we need to concentrate on the economy laid out by the forestry sector; It is not about generating a product in a linear way where the waste goes to the kip, but it’s rather about considering this waste as a resource and send it back as raw material so that new competitive products are generated into the market sector and creating work».
When asked about the energetic deficit held by Tolhuin to support an industrial process, she recalled that « by the end of 2022, we voted to grant the province the right to access a credit authorized the ACD, the Andine Confederation of Development, and by means of other funds that the province may obtain. Already in 2002, we noticed the necessity to invest in the totality of energetic matrix expansion of the Land of Fire. A few days ago, we learnt that the national government’s approval was under way, to set up credits and invest in equipment. I think this is fundamental for the development and particularly to think about the energetic transition that our province must implement. Today, we are providing gas supply. Gas is a transitional fuel. And all the resources generated by licence fees, as this province is one of first to produced gas from Argentina, these resources generated from the licence fees can be used to develop a new energetic matrix largely fed by renewable energies. And this financing project, which we approved in 2022 at the Legislature, is now going forward with the Nation’s approval and demonstrates all this a little.
“It’s a core issue: if we want to talk about expanding the productive matrix, it must go hand in hand with expanding the province energetic matrix”, she finally declared.
As you may have noticed, the internship programme for the 2024-2025 season is online. Featuring coastal and offshore navigations north and south, there is something for everyone!
Milagro is currently in Ireland and Scotland for coastal internships departing from Dublin until mid-September, then it will be time for the offshore navigations with two return trips between Dublin and the Loire-Atlantique in September and Octobre, before taking course south towards Patagonia, the end of the world to which Karukinka has been dedicated since its beginning.
Karukinka means Land of Fire in Selk’nam, a tribe living between south of Magellan Strait and Beagle canal. Some work indicate it would also mean “the last land of men” which, in the history of migrations, takes its full meaning since it is the last land reached by foot in all the history of human migrations.
So, this year we will go back to the canals of Patagonia of the biosphere reserve of the Cape Horn, in order to complement Lauriane’s work under the “Cape North – Cap Horn” project that started in 2022. We also propose four 18-day sailing internships departing from Ushuaia or Puerto Williams between February and April 2025 to explore together these islands, fjords, mountains and glaciers as beautiful as they are fascinating.
And before that, between October 2024 and January 2025, we are proposing a series of offshore internships during the +7000 nm composing this trip, with beautiful upcoming stopovers: Brittany – the Canaries (14 days), the Canaries – Cabo Verde (9 days), Cabo Verde – Brazil Transatlantic (20 days), Brazil – Argentina (15 days) and Buenos Aires – Land of Fire (21 days).
For the last few weeks, you now have the possibility to book our internships directly online using the HelloAsso platform, all the dates are indicated on the internship pages, with a summary of the prices and terms & conditions in the “Booking request” tab. Should you have any question, you can also reach us by email (contact@karukinka.eu), telephone and WhatsApp (+33 6 72 83 03 94).
We look forward to sailing together “here”, “there”, or “over there”: we always count on you to keep spreading the word and quench your thirst of adventure so that we keep on building such great teams on board!
Damien
PS: we plan on careening the Milagro at La Turballe the second half of September: anyone who is up to spending elbow grease to come and help us, will be welcome!
If you plan to go stop at La Rochelle this summer, don’t miss this trip to the end of the world! This sound and immersive fiction was created by Sébastien Laurier in collaboration with the Phare du bout du monde (Lighthouse of the end of the world) association and the town of La Rochelle: for one hour, you are transported into the far south of Patagonia, from the post-office of the tip of the Minimes harbour.
Several members of the Karukinka association took part in this project, among whom Mirtha Salamanca (Selk’nam woman, member of the Argentinian indigenous participative board), voiced in French by Marie-Pierre Lemasson, cash-flow manager of the association, who’s known by Mirtha since 2019 when she first came to France under the project Haizebegi. Indeed, our main protagonist, Lauriane, finds echo in Karukinka’s founder…
And if you wish to go further, come with us to visit the “real” lighthouse of the end of the world next winter and spring (North Spring!) (February-April 2025) onboard the association’s sailing ship: the Milagro. More information on: https://karukinka-exploration.com/patagonie-2025/
Early in the morning, we raise anchor at the still and at a few cable lengths from Castle Moy on Loch Buie (Isle of Mull). In this loch facing south-west, last night was moderately pleasant, due to a small swell from the south that came before the wind forecast in the same direction, forcing the Milagro to keep an annoying stand through this swell (and cradle us of course, but we would have gladly done without it!).
By accumulating starting the engine, lifting the anchor, cleaning the pile of gravel and sludge that stained the chain and anchor, and hoisting sails to be able to navigate only through them, we have set a new record of a minimum use of the engine: 20 minutes! We are able to leave the loch thanks to the mizzen mast and the yankee, at close, at 5.5 knots: what’s the use of pushing it?
The forecast is good (South 3 to 5 going to 2 to 4 for a few hours, before going to 3 to 5 and move to North-West 4 to 6 south of the Isle of Mull. We make the most of the ebbing tide to keep at good distance from the southern coast, despite a closed haul. This part of the island situated between Loch Scridain (North) and the end of Firth of Lorn (South) form a peninsula called Ross of Mull. The further West we navigate, the more complex the bottoms get, with many reefs to go through to reach our goal: Iona.
The basalt cliffs (palisades again!) are, at times, shaped into caves and arches sculpted by erosion and are interspersed by gorgeous turquoise waterfalls and creeks. Disregarding the water temperature (14 degrees), this colour could entice us to go swimming! We are stunned by the beauty of the landscape and change course to come closer, close-hauled to Malcom’s Point waterfall, before going back to our southern course.
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Gradually, we come across more demanding passages, of which the Torran Rocks mapped by Bogha nan Ramfhear cardinal and the entry towards the south of the Sound of Iona. Once again, we experience many moments of solitude (and laughter obviously) which intersperse with the times when we name the rocks, bays, reefs, islands and capes! Our encounters with locals who didn’t speak Gaelic reassured us when we talked about it with them: they were only just about able to mumble a few words! If you want to get an idea of the moment, just look at the map of that area!
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We enter the channel separating Ross of Mull from Iona by sail (close-hauled, 5.5 knots). Being the only sailing ship in this channel at the end of the afternoon, we decide not to set course north by means of the engine.
We prefer to take our time to study the map thoroughly and look for any visual signs onshore to successfully cross the channel by exclusively relying on the alignments (cathedral, Bull Hole…) and the sounder indicators, rather than following what’s on the screens. We prepare several recordings by means of the compass and jibing manoeuvres in relatively narrow passages to go round sounders of a sand and rock band between 10cms and 1m60, then sail starboard off Eilean nam Ban Island and its amazing colours. We arrive in a new area and reach anchorage of Port na Fraing and its white sand beach, just for ourselves and on 7m bottom! (those of Martyrs’ Bay or Bull Hole are more crowdy). The forecast 4 to 6 Beaufort arrive at the end of the day, yet we are safe in the channel, under Iona’s wind.
After a restful night, we leave on the boat towards Martyr’s Bay’s ferry dock to visit this sacred place of the Scottish history of which Vicky Gunn has told us about: she is medieval history research we had met in Loch Melfort.
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Iona is a small island facing the Atlantic Ocean and has only one land at the surface towards the West at this latitude, given the dangerous surroundings of Skerryvore (next comes Canada). It’s surrounded with reefs of which the black rocks are set in contrast with the white sand beaches. Bestowed with a small village offering all the essential services (including a primary school) and several craftworkers (potters, wood sculptors, jewellery designers, basket makers, weavers…), Iona is considered one of the main spiritual places of Scotland. Many come in pilgrimage and/or to find peace during spiritual retreats.
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Why is this small island so important, then? This is what we’ll share with you further in details thanks to the information given by Vicky during our visit, and through the reading and research that followed.
The first conclusion we can make is that the cultural and historical importance of Iona is totally out of proportion, given its size. It has been inhabited at least since the Bronze Age as can be seen with Blàr Buidhe site; but it is only from the 6th century that the importance of Iona was documented. Several toponyms are associated with the island, including “Ì”, “Ì Challuim Chille” (Iona of St Columba to avoid any confusions), “Eilean Idhe” (The isle of Iona) and “Ì nam ban bòidheach” (Iona of the beautiful woman in gaelic), and its inhabitants are called the Idheach.
563 saw the arrival of twelves disciples sailing on Columbia from the north of Ireland. They founded the second Christianisation mission of Scotland, one century and a half after the former one led by Ninian of the Isle of Whithorn in 397, and of which the precepts would have been conveyed all the way to the Shetland islands. It was a strategic move to establish a church and a monastery on Iona, since that island was situated on a waterway allowing passage from Inverness to Ireland but also the whole Celtic world. Like Holy Island and Portmahomack, Iona quickly became a source of dissemination of the Celtic version of the Christian religion and of new ideas and creations (including illumination/calligraphy, music, painting and art crafts). Choosing this place to do it was very efficient because it was situated on a main cultural and commercial axis at the time. The small community that had settled there also developed a subsistence economy with an important farming activity (cereal cultures and breeding), fishing and building. They were not completely self-reliant, since they used to import wine, pigments and oils from the south of France for liturgic purposes!
For 34 years, Columba developed close ties with royalty, converting, for example, King Bruce and the Picts to Christianism, following a spiritual battle he won against the referent of their kingdom. Columba also facilitated, until his death in 597, the establishment of an independent realm in west Scotland: Argyll. Most of this information reached us thanks to Adomnàn, a diplomat who succeeded to and was St Columba’s biographer, by leading the mission for 25 years, in the 7th century. He wrote several major works to understand that period, including “The life of Saint Columba” (“Vita Sancti Columbae”, circa 690) and “The Law of the innocents” (“Lex Innocentium” dated 697).
In the 8th and 9th centuries, the Vikings attacked Iona on several occasions, attracted by the treasures of the monastery. 825 saw one of the worst Viking raids: Father Blathmac and the monks with him were tortured for the purpose of getting them to reveal the place where the relics of St Columba were hidden, a poem mentioning they would lay inside a chest covered with gold and silver. When nothing was confessed, they were slaughtered in a bay later called Martyrs’ Bay. The fear of those raids and their repetitive nature was such that it had led to an exodus of many clergymen who made sure to take the rarest relics with them (including St Columba’s bones) and another treasure: the Book of Kells (created in Iona 200 years after St Columba’s death, this book is considered one of the most remarkable religious works of the time and can now be seen at Trinity College in Dublin). Despite these relentless attacks, the monastery remained active, and the frequency of the raids only decreased in the 10th century when the Vikings settled in the Hebrides converted to Christianism and adopted St Columba as their saint patron. Several engraved tomb stones preserved in the museum show the Viking influence with inscriptions in rune.
In the 11th century, Iona and most of the western Scottish isles were under the power of the king of Norway. The distance made it quite complicated to rule the region, the king entrusted a Norwegian-Gaelic warrior with the task: Somerled. He became the first Lord of the Isles, controlling a region spreading from Kintyre to the Inner Hebrides. His descendants were the MacDougalls of Lorn, MacDonalds of Islay and MacRuairis of Garmoran, several of them having played a major role in the 14th political manoeuvres and independence wars.
During our excursion onshore and on our way to the abbey, we walked across the ruins of a convent and followed the Road of the Dead (“Sràid nam marbh”), a road paved with pink granite and connecting the Martyr Bay with St Columba’s tombstone situated at the centre of the benedictine abbey built in the 15th century. This route was the very same one followed by pilgrims and during the processions dedicated to the graves of important actors of the Gaelic world in the cemetery of Reilig Odhrain surrounding St Oran chapel which was built in the 12th century (the oldest intact structure of the island). It is said that, in this cemetery, would lay 48 Scottish Kings (among whom Macbeth / Mac Bethad), members of the clan of MacDonald Lord of the Isles, some of whom with Norse ascendents (MacKinnons, MacLeans and MacLeods) and, in a small chapel so simple it is baffling, the bodies of the most important lord and war chiefs of the western Scottish islands. Many old, sculpted tombstones are still in this cemetery, while others have been moved to the museum of the abbey cloister to ensure their preservation. It is said that the first crosses on the tombstones, considered rather conventional nowadays, would have appeared in Iona approximately in 600, as shown with the oldest crosses ornate with sophisticated symbols and bearing various designs as shown by the various examples seen in the museum next to the abbey.
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Afterwards, we leave this cemetery and walk to the rocky headland called Torr an aba, facing the abbey and where Columba used to work. This site offers an outstanding view on the Sound of Iona, the far end of Ross of Mull and the small chapel containing St Columba’s tomb and situated just behind the replica of an impressive granite, sculpted cross dedicated to St Jean (the original one is in the museum). This abbey was built in the 13th century after the arrival of benedictine monks and Augustinian sisters invited over by Ranald, the Lord of the Islands and descendant of Somerled, with the purpose of revitalising religious life on the island, while being offered more subsequent means of subsistence. Several armed attacks sabotaged this new monastery, as several Irish religious chiefs would not accept to lose their ties and influence on Iona. Following the Treaty of Perth (1266) between Norway and Scotland, Iona went back to the kingdom of Scotland, and progressively became an important pilgrimage place until the Reformation of 1560 which saw the end of the monasteries in Scotland.
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Several restoration attempts were then carried out without any success, and progressively transformed the buildings into ruins by the end of the 19th century, as shown by several photos taken before some important work. The 8th Duke of Argyll, owner of the island, commissioned an architect to consolidate the ruins, then sold the abbey, the cemetery and the convent to Iona Cathedral Trust in 1899. Several renovation works were launched, and 6 years later, a first service was able to be performed in the partially renovated church. As the decades went by, dedication focused on restoring the monastery and the whole west part of the cloister, at the instigation of Iona Community, a Christian community that works towards peace and social justice and whose members are disseminated around the world. In 2000 Iona Cathedral Trust ended up selling the abbey, the cemetery, Saint Ronan’s church and the convent to Scotland’s historical monuments. Today the cathedral is still in good shape and well-kept by means of the revenues generated from the visits and donations.
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Anyway, as you may have gathered, Iona is the place to be when you go to the Hebrides. It is to Scotland what St Jacques de Compostelle is to France and Spain, and if you really want to do the pilgrimage, we would recommend you do it sailing rather than walking. Even if you are not passionate about history, the sheer beauty of the monument and its surroundings is outstanding: they create a parenthesis where you are transported at different times and allow you to look at those islands with a different eye. Iona really does create room for the imaginary, eventually echoing everything we also look for in the navigation and the lengthy disconnection from the uproar it procures, being in harmony with, yet depending on the elements. This feeling can also be found in the words of the composer Felix Mendelssohn in 1829 featured on one of the exit walls of the cloister: “When in some future time I shall sit in a madly crowded assembly with music and dancing round me, and the wish arises to retire into the loneliest loneliness, I shall think of Iona.”
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Time flew and we didn’t notice, and we came back to the Milagro only late afternoon and quickly nibbled on something before raising anchor, to make the most of the good conditions to reach Staffa, then Ulva before nightfall.
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A small bonus: the sunset lights on the reefs and ocean spray southwards of Iona a couple of weeks later, departing the Treshnish islands.
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On the occasion of the Green Shift Festival, held from 5th to 7th June in Monaco, Jorge Quilaqueo, a Mapuche Chaman, exchanged with Sabah Rahmani, an anthropologist journalist, and Hélène Collongues, anthropologist specialising in the Jivaro people.
On the stage of the Green Shift Festival, from left to right, Jorge Quilaqueo, Sabah Rahmani, Hélène Collongues and Sébastien Uscher (the mediator). Credited by Philippe Fitte / FPA2
Jorge Quilaqueo is a Mapuche Chaman. This autochthonous people from Chile and Argentina once occupied a large part of the territory around the Andes Cordillera, until the arrival of the Spanish, from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. Jorge Quilaqueo defends the rights of his people, dispossessed of a large part of their lands and wiped out gradually through the ages – there would be less than one million Mapuches today.
He is working at inciting all the people to reconnect to the living.
When stopping in Europe, he opened the 2024 Green Shift Festival of Monaco on 5th June with a water ceremony. This event was dedicated to new utopias of a more sustainable world and was the opportunity to talk about « the ecology of the emotional rather than the rational », as explained by Olivier Wenden, vice-president of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, who’s organising the festival, and of which WE DEMAIN is a collaborator.
![[#8 – Ireland–Scotland 2024] from Loch Buie to the sacred Isle of Iona](https://karukinka.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Iona_LL-1080x675.jpg)
