The Arhuaco people are the guardians of the forests and glaciers of Colombia's highest mountain range, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. In this unique environment, they have developed a profound spiritual relationship with their territory: mountain lakes are believed to hold thoughts, while the garments they weave embody the land itself.
For centuries, the Arhuaco defended themselves against European conquerors, landowners, and mining companies, retreating ever higher into the mountains. But even these remote regions were eventually reached by the forces of the Colombian civil war. Across this sacred land—stretching from the Caribbean coast to the tropical glaciers—a brutal conflict unfolded, forever changing the lives of the Arhuaco community.