Written by: Daniela Perez Mejia

I’ve been reluctant to share these indigenous practices. Not because they aren’t captivating— they are — but because way too often they are taken out of context, romanticized and exploited.

Indigenous traditions and cultures hold a multitude of complexities. Each unique to its own ethnicity. Sharing these traditions and practices entails a deep social and environmental responsibility.

It’s daunting to see how colonialism has erased native dialects, history, cultures and along with it — identity. Not so long ago, their great-grandparents and grandparents survived the Rubber Holocaust, a period of brutal exploitation that is constantly ignored.

As tourism grows, so does the commercialization of indigenous cultures.

So I share this not to exoticize, but to honor. To remind us that true respect means more than admiration—it means responsibility, reciprocity, and remembering.

Let’s not romanticize what we do not fully understand and rather, honor deeply the people, the land, and the stories they carry.