Down to Earth
a kids’ journey around the world
Copyright: Zoeli, Sky and Levy Winters, Renata Heinen & Rolf Winters 2013 Printed in Graphic Design: Flukso/Maria Taari ISBN
U.P.
(Upper Peninsula of Michigan)
Population: 300,000 The U.P. is the size of Holland surrounded by Lake Superior, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron People in the U.P. call themselves “Yoopers�
! e s u o h Our 16
7 January
We moved here five years ago. Before we lived in Amsterdam and before that in London. Mom and dad wanted to live closer to nature and they had become good friends with the
Ojibwa people here. I love it here, there is so much space and so many animals in the wild. You wake up to the sound of Coyotes, birds chirping as well as to our rooster!
We always see deer around our
land. We even saw a huge grey wolf once. There are bears, they hardly show themselves, but they leave their droppings as a sign of their presence. The other cool thing here is
winter.
5 months of snow!
And
lots
of it.
17
22
s ’ m o M rite u o v a f e c a l p
The Four Native American Sacred Plants TOBACCO Renews life. It is offered to the sacred fire, so that the smoke can bring prayers up to the great spirit. CEDAR When burned, cedar acts as purifier. Also a circle of cedar twigs put around the house will protect it. Cedar gives courage.
SAGE Also used as a purifier. The smoke of burning sage cleanses humans’ aura and houses. It also purifies our way when we change worlds in death. SWEETGRASS Represents the hair of mother Earth. Sweetgrass purifies and will replace negative with positive.
23
Ima-manta-taq hamu-nk-i? (‘where are you from?’ in Quechua).
25 February The place called Gruetas was like a pool with rock
walls and cliffs all the way around it. The water was freezing!
60
26 February Swimming with the sea
lions was so much fun. One of them touched me with its flipper. Also a sea
turtle swam by!
Crab Pinching red circles crawling over stones
61
20% The Amazon basin contains . er at w h es fr ’s ld or w e th of
There are more species of fish in the Amazon river than in the entire Atlantic Ocean. tical drugs eu ac m ar h p n er od m l al of 25% , yet ts n la p st re fo in ra om fr d ve are deri died. 99% still haven’t been stu
More than 20% of the worlds oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest. 74
The Amazon Rainforest has the biggest biodiversity on the planet. Every second one acre and
a half of tropical rainforest is DESTROYED !!!
At this rate half of the world species will be lost in the next 25 years! 75
13 March
JUNGLE! In the
we went with trail. We walked for a deep forest, bit in thewere when we attacked by sting less bees. They went in our ears and hair. Mateo (the Achuar guide) showed us the plant medicines the Achuar use. morning
the
canoe to a hiking
Stingin gB Bu
zzzin ees gS SStinging
Thingsss
THE MONKEY LADDER VINE The monkey ladder vine is a legume (like beans and peas). The achuar believed that the monkey ladder wine used to connect earth and heaven. 82
14 March
We went to visit a school in the community. We were going to show the children where we live on the globe of the World. They all ran across the school floor like a herd of elephants and than the whole school
floor caved in : crack!
A FEW ACHUAR PLANT MEDICINES Montrichardia: tall tree like plant that repels mosquitos. Otoba: dragons blood tree is used for cuts Muricarpa: stinging nettle; punishment for children that won't listen and pain relief!
83
ELEMENTS
Fire is everything Air is everything Water is everything Wind is everything 98
99
Yo! (yes)
KIDS' NAMES Kids on the island have two names, an English and a Yolgnu name. James Philip Dylan Jonah Lucy Frank Alex
– – – – – – –
Bunbuyngu Wedu Gadaman Manmunga Bawu Gitjakarra Yunupingu
Yaka! (no!)
114
FOOTBALL Kicking around Moving and shooting 115
KIMONO The common dress of Japan used to be the kimono. Mostly, they are made from silk, have big wide sleeves and reach from the shoulders down to feet. They are tied with a wide belt, called an obi. Kimonos are now only worn on special occasions.
126
Meeting the Ainu The Ainu are recognized as the aboriginal people of Japan. The word ‘Ainu’ means man/human. Current population: 30,000, of which less than 200 are pureblood Ainu Home: 80% of the Ainu live on the island of Hokkaido Culture: originally Ainu were hunter-gatherers and fishermen
127
Hurazo lives two hours East of Tokyo. We were invited to stay in his house for a couple of days. We camped out in the living room of his house, which he built all by himself.
Hurazo is an Ainu leader
AINU LANGUAGE boy - okay girl - menoko child - ekaci tree - ni house - cise what?/ which? - nep eat - ype rice - amam good - pirika
9 June This morning
I did not
feel like
getting up. Mom almost dragged me out of bed, because we had to catch a bus. We met up with
anako, Kour guide.
She is half apanese, half reminds meJ of our wonderful jungle guide Christina. The bags we all carried were so heavy, they felt like filled with rocks. We had to take a few different buses before we got to Hurazo's house. I like it here. It's very different from crazy Tokyo. There are no tables in his Ainu. She
Hurazu s house so we did school work on the floor.
129
22 June Seeing the rubbish pile in Delhi was like looking at a mountain with people climbing all over it in search of something useful.
Fact: ‘In North America we produce enough garbage each day to fill 70,000 garbage trucks. Bumper to bumper, in one year, they would stretch halfway to the moon.’
144
Humans are the only species who create waste; in the West we throw away our own bodyweight in waste every 7 weeks! 145
POEM: GIRAFFE by Zoe Li Above the clouds As high as the sun Licking up yummy thorns Calmly striding on stilts (DSC_0225)
202
I LOVE AFRICA Zooming through the desert Getting ostrich eggs Putting clay on, for warmth Collecting wood to make bows and arrows With cobras, black and green mambas And that’s only to start with the dangerous things! 203
208
209
POEM: DANCING WARRIORS by Zoe Li Flashes of red Flickers of purple Springing like springbok Bouncing like bouncy balls Keeping straight Challenging each other In a singing circle Sounding/sounds like the didgeridoo
21 September We had breakfast and did hours of math. Mom and dad returned home with a big surprise.
Ashe oleng!
They opened the boot of the jeep and there were three sheep in the back! They are a wedding gift for Lekiti. But before handing them over, we could look after them for a day!
254
(Thank you!)
Ole sere (good bye)
Tutaonana
(see you all again!)
24 October
Sigvald lives at
the
Porsanger Fjord, most,
the most northern Fjord of Norway. Sigvald's mother was a well known Noaidi (Shaman). Sigvald was taught throughout his life by his mother and now works with her teachings in his own way. People come to him for healing. He also works hard to defend the traditional use of the land. He told mom and dad that he did not want to be filmed, but was happy to meet us. Sigvald might take us to see
the reindeer.
274
We went all the way up North to meet Sigvald.