ACT In The News | June 2002 | Subscribe

Shamans and Chefs Event, Cleveland, Ohio | June 20, 2002

Taita, a Colombian Shaman

In an unusual collaboration for a vital cause, rock music legend Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues will join Don Luciano Mutumbajoy, a leading Amazonian Shaman, and the Amazon Conservation Team, an innovative conservation group that integrates Western science and traditional wisdom, to raise monies for and awareness of the importance of the most ancient and revered medicine men and women of the South American rainforest. This very special event, featuring a performance by Mr. Hayward, will be held on the evening of June 20th at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.

Hayward has been the driving force/lead songwriter/lead vocalist for the Moody Blues for almost 30 years, during which the group has sold a phenomenal 60 million albums. Songs like "Nights in White Satin" and "Tuesday Afternoon" are among the most popular rock songs ever recorded. He has collaborated with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and his compositions have also appeared on the soundtracks of "War of the Worlds" and the recent IMAX film "Caves."

Rock music legend Justin Hayward and Shaman Luciano Mutumbajoy join together at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum on behalf of ACT

Mutumbajoy, the heir of an established shamanic lineage, is among the foremost indigenous leaders of the northwest Amazon in the struggle for cultural preservation, the perpetuation of authentic shamanic medicine, and the conservation of biodiversity. Recently, he spearheaded an immense effort resulting in the recent creation of a 168,000-acre national park in the northwest Amazon to protect both rainforests and indigenous culture in one of the world's areas of greatest biological and cultural diversity. In recognition of this and other extraordinary work, he recently received one of the most prestigious awards in conservation: the Royal Order of the Golden Ark, presented by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands.

Founded in 1995, the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) is a private non-profit organization dedicated to working in true partnership with indigenous peoples to protect the biological and cultural diversity of tropical South America. ACT emphasizes measurable outcomes in its conservation endeavors: in Colombia, ACT is working with the Ingano tribe toward the creation of a 2-million acre biocultural conservation corridor, of which the aforementioned national park is an essential portion; in Brazil, ACT is co-managing one of the largest private reserves in all of South America; and in the northeast Amazon, ACT is collaborating with the Tirio Indians to map and protect 20 million acres of rainforest.

Funds raised during the event, which will also feature cuisine by premier chefs in Cleveland, will be utilized toward an endowment supporting the basic sustenance of the remaining elder shamans, to build hospitals where the shamans may work side by side with western-trained physicians in an environment where both traditions are respected and knowledge and expertise is shared, and to provide essential infrastructure and supplies for the related preservation projects guided by the indigenous leaders.

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