Focus Frostburg

Going Native:  "Sustainability in the Amazon” Presented by Mimi Hernandez

Written By Scott McDonough, ENGL 336

     Mimi Hernandez, Coordinator of the Appalachian Center for Ethnobotanical Studies at Frostburg State University, has gone native. On Wednesday, April 18, Mimi Hernandez was a featured speaker at Focus Frostburg, Frostburg State University’s all-day annual event of informative presentations to raise environmental sustainability and climate awareness during Earth Week. In her presentation, “Sustainability in the Amazon," Mrs. Hernandez shared the story of her recent trip to Ecuador to highlight the threat that modern mining operations have on the natural environment and the preservation of native cultures in the area. While the issue of environmental sustainability is certainly a heavy subject matter in itself, Mimi's presentation struck a more personal and powerful chord as her three week stay in Ecuador became her own journey of self-discovery and spiritual transformation.

     As Mimi Hernandez presented her collection of pictures from her trip to Ecuador with a group of fellow ethnobotanists, she made sure to emphasize one important detail summarizing the personal impact of her experience, "I cried a lot, I was the crier of the group." However, Mimi’s frequent bouts of crying were more than justified as she went on to describe her experiences living with various Amazonian tribes, revealing the close relationship with nature that the indigenous people of Ecuador struggle to preserve in the midst of modern times. As a perfect example of environmental sustainability, Mimi illustrated various ways the indigenous people live off the land including raising their own guinea pigs for meat and using the sap from certain trees for medicine. Next, Mimi told the story of Don Juan, a medicine man and shamanic healer of the Shuar people who is both revered and respected in his tribe. Mimi testified to Don Juan’s intensive knowledge of natural resources and their potential for use as food, medicine, and rites of passage for the Shuar people. Recalling how honored she was to witness the healing power of Don Juan first-hand when she took part in a “natem” healing ritual, Mimi shamelessly admitted to drinking a psychoactive Ayahuasca brew in an all-night hallucinatory ceremony. According to Mimi however, there is no stigma attached to the ingestion of psychoactive plants including Ayahuasca, San Pedro cactus, and Peyote in Amazonian cultures because “they are used as religious sacraments and for spiritual or healing purposes compared to their recreational use in modern countries like the US as a means of escapism.” Eventually, Mimi discussed how modern mining companies interested in precious metal prospects in the area threaten the indigenous people of Ecuador and their way of life to illustrate the importance of environmental sustainability and awareness. In a poignant point concluding her presentation, Mimi Hernandez revealed how even the great Don Juan bore unfortunate signs of modern times as she described one his outfits consisting of “a Nike shirt and money sign belt.”

     According to the Learning Green, Living Green website, Focus Frostburg is “FSU’s annual Day of Learning on sustainability and climate awareness that is open to FSU students, faculty, staff, and the community.” Fortunately, Sophomore Natalia Menocal, an elementary education major at FSU, learned a thing or two at Focus Frostburg as she sat in one of the steel chairs in the last row during Mimi Hernandez’s presentation and whispered, “I had to come here for one of my classes, but it’s actually really interesting, she (Hernandez) is making me realize that I have to be friendlier to the environment.” Certainly, Focus Frostburg aimed to send that environmentally-friendly message to many others, and with so much information provided throughout the length of the event including Mimi Hernandez’s presentation, “Sustainability in the Amazon,” —Focus Frostburg was successful in doing just that.