Who are the Kogi people?
The Kogi Indigenous People of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Magdalena, Colombia.The Kogi are an indigenous tribe who live in the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains relatively near Santa Marta, Colombia. For the most part, they live in tribal village communities. There are approximately 21,000 Kogi, other related tribes live in other areas of the mountains. The Kogi fall into the people bloc of an ethnolinguistic people, with a shared history which has not changed much for over 1,000 years.
Their clothing consists of white long garments which they make and symbolize purity. They were never conquered by the Spanish Conquistadors and have the same spiritual beliefs as they did 1000 years ago. To avoid the Spanish, they progressively moved further up into the mountains. Their primary language is Kogi, however some speak Spanish. They do not have a written language.
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A little about their ethnic heritage
Their ethnic heritage goes back to the Tairona or Tayrona culture, which was considered an advanced pre-Columbian civilization in that region. Their descendants built La Ciudad Perdida (the Lost City) deep in the mountains. This city rivals and pre-dates Machu Picchu by 600 years. At one time their land extended all the way to the Caribbean Sea.
Palmor, Colombia, elevation 3,379 feet, is a place of interface with the Kogi people. It is a small town where the Kogi and small local farmers bring and sell their coffee. We have a warehouse to meet with them as they come down from the mountains with their mules. Coffee is mostly the only source of income for the Kogi. They grow their own food in the mountains for themselves. Since their culture is closely linked to the planet, they take care of the earth and do not use chemical fertilizers or insecticides.
Their coffee is EXCELLENT and free from contaminants. They view themselves as the “elder brothers” and as the guardians and protectors of the earth. The rest of humanity is seen as the “younger brothers.” They believe and live that balance on the planet is critical for the earth to survive. They are all about living in harmony with the planet. There are many articles and videos about the Kogi people often used to actively encourage ecological care of the earth.
Relating to the Kogi
Our coffee warehouse in Palmor is for the purpose of buying their coffee at fair market prices. Walking to Palmor with their pack animals can take anywhere from one to three days depending on their starting point. Like many indigenous, or other poor people around the globe, the Kogi are often looked down upon by other members of society and taken advantage of, they are often, if not almost always, paid less for their coffee beans. There is one harvest per year in this part of Colombia. Our focus is to help the Kogi people in any healthy way that we can.
We start by paying them FMV plus for their coffee so they can buy food to supplement what they grow and any medicine and/or other necessity. We have been in discussions with one of their leaders and are beginning a friendship built upon honest friendship and trust. Aside from providing a fair return for their coffee, we have the knowledge to help train them in international coffee marketing and sales. It is our hope that through trust we can assist the tribe in coffee sales and production.
Susane and I are 100% bilingual and cultural. I have law degrees both in the USA and Mexico (a very similar legal system). In Colombia we have Colombian associates with the same heart. Javier, the 40-year-old head of this family who grew up on his grandfather’s coffee farm in the outskirts of Palmor and has been friends with many Kogi over the years. With Javier in charge, we have rented a warehouse in Palmor and have assembled a Colombian team with the necessary equipment to buy coffee and export coffee. It is worth mentioning, this last fall, to our delight, other coffee buyers in the town started paying the Kogi a fair price - as the Kogi wanted to sell their coffee primarily to us.