A Gathering Basket- Issue 13

ISSUE 13

CACAO FROM THE I-COLLECTIVE A MULTI-MEDIA COOK BOOK

“Journalists who went unde documented traffickers in G them for $34 a child.”

reads a small paragraph on the Food Is P of the worlds cacao produced in just two Ivory Coast, the majority of forced labor a is consolidated there. Logos that you see home, like Nestle, Hershey, Mars, and Ca these modern plantations, with Cadbury subject of a TV documentary on child sla

Click photo for cocoa harvesting video!

So-called “latin american” countries, whi of cacao, only produce around 15% of th producing 90% of the fine cacoa exports reported, the focus has mainly been on B food and agri-business company, operat and industrial raw materials to over 20,90 two other “unnamed”corporations are be

“for allegedly failing to address labor abuses in their supply chain”. Here they have other battles too; drug cartels, the previously mentioned corporations, ceremonial theft, and cacao tourism.

When it comes to the drug cartels, or “narcos”, the battle is against the land itself. The destruction of cacao producing lands to grow coca, a medicinal plant with a rich Indigenous cultural history. Even the word “Khokha”, meaning “the Tree”, comes from the Aymara Tribe of the Andes, but the subsequent manipulation of the plant by western science, having created the drug known as cocaine, has continued the desecration of Indigenous Traditional Medicines and created an underground global market with the end result being continued displacement of Indigenous peoples and way of being. It’s worth noting here that the Spaniards enslaved the tribal people of the region and forced them to work in their mines while also forcing them to use their sacred plant to the point that many died.

Of the many other colonizer tactics of displacement and theft we face here, spiritual white supremacy is one of the most relentless. From the prepackaged medicines like cedar, white sage, and sweetgrass sold

ercover as cocoa farmers Ghana selling children to

Power website. Reread that. With 60% o West African nations, Ghana and and human trafficking in this industry e in your local store, and likely in your adbury are all corporations that fund as recently as April 2022 being the avery.

ile being amongst the birthplaces he world's chocolate exports while s, and while child slavery has been Brazil where Olam International, “a major ting in 60 countries and supplying food 00 customers worldwide”, along with eing sued by Brazilian state prosecutors

Click photo for cocoa opening video!

complete with a shell and turkey feather for smudging, that you see everywhere from health food stores to the local bookstore, to the selling of our Sweatlodge and Sundance Ceremonies in communities like Sedona, AZ and Crestone, CO, and that’s not to mention the plethora of books written for white consumption there is an endless onslaught of cultural theft. This is true also of our Mayan relatives Cacao Ceremonies. With tourists to their communities coming back to the U.S. and performing their “version” for monetary gain, with no connection or respect for those they have stolen cosmology from.

Alongside the conversation of tourism, and its effects on the Maya people, is that of the post NAFTA and global economies. For a quick glimpse at how capitalism operates, and why it’s so efficient at destroying land based peoples way of being, you can simply look at the “Cacao Barometer: Latin American Baseline” where global elites decide how to commodify, monopolize, and profit from “undeveloped countries”.

Enough from us though! Let's hear from our friend Julio Saqui of Che’il Mayan Chocolate, in Belize, about some of the struggles they face as Cacao protectors in their communities.

A s of late, there has been so much focus on tourism in Central America

and especially among Indigenous people, specifically, the Indigenous Maya people. Not only U.S. tourism focusing on us, but also those who are looking for opportunities to enrich themselves and take advantage of local Indigenous people.

The Maya, as many would know, are known for cacao, and chocolate, as it is the food of the Gods; a gift to them from heaven above. Cacao is not used only as a traditional drink or ceremonial uses, but also for its medicinal uses, that makes it so much more important to the Maya.

The conquerors brought these special beans to the "developed world" and today they are out to take what they can, with little to no respect to the original owners, all for profit and with no respect to our Traditional Spiritual and Ceremonial use of our Sacred Cacao. In fact they are now alienating the Maya away from what is rightfully theirs.

They introduced money as buying power to this region, because cacao beans were used by the Maya people as money then. We could buy or trade easily with it then. Today this is no longer possible and our cacao beans are only looked upon as a treat!!!

Chocolate as many know, is the number one world leader in special sweet treats, to many high end clients and royalties. Because of this great demand many of the same people now want to see where this chocolate is coming from, who

Written piece by: Julio Saqu

Click on photo for more about

ui | Photo of: Julio Saqui

t the health benefits of cocao.

is behind it, and to meet the real people who discovered it.

These people traveled from different parts of the world as "tourists" to see and enjoy real chocolate for the first time for themselves. However, when they get to see it first hand, it is mostly foreigners in the front line, claiming to be the Maya people, dressing like one, and using the traditional grinding stone to make chocolate like the Maya people would. Not to say there aren't a few real Maya outlets who do this as well, where they would go and learn from, but the sad part is that now with growing tourism, even this part of our culture they want to possess, even using our own tools. Other cultures are taking possession of the grinding stone and keeping them in their museums claiming it is theirs!

The Maya people, both ancient and living, use the traditional grinding stone to grind their food, corn, spices, chocolate etc. It is what we know of growing up and what we use to feed our family.

Because they have technology and finances for their marketing, the visitors do not know better and believe all that they see and hear.

It is in this regard, that I urge all my Maya brothers and sisters, to continue holding on to their culture and continue to practice it as outside pressure will work as hard to force Indigenous people to let go of their culture and they will take control.

As we here at the I-Collective have recognized in previous issues the “borders”, those here in the North. Those very circumstances Julio speaks of in Mayan lands have too m those is that we here in the U.S. see benefits from the warfare against them, and beca relatives in the South.

The history of cacao, and its economic power, ranges from the cacao itself being a fo on to global chocolate sales of $150 billion annually, predominantly of products conta “milk chocolate” a product only needs to have 10% chocolate liquor and there’s also ultimately ends with you.

What about traditional uses though? This month we’ve enlisted Paulina Ixim from Toluc grandmother preparing commercial chocolate drinks like Nestle Abuelita, and of her how they were treated to champurrado made from real cacao, maize,and spices an seeds at Sundance in the local mountains, a gift from a woman singer, and how this m

While studying Mayan language and anthropology at university in Mexico City she wa of its power to open both intuition and memory. Starting to work with cacao while pre turning their study to spices, herbs, and the rare white cacao,

Now ten years into their work with cacao they recognize it as an “ancestral way to he it. Everything from the gift of cacao seeds to newborns to teachings in the realm of dr

“A remedy to embrace those that are tired. To give warmth to the hea

arbitrary lines on the map, that create divisions and separatism really limit our sight many reflections for us to even begin listing off but, I think the most important of ause of that we as Indigenous peoples need to reflect on how our choices affect our

orm of currency within Indigenous communities, both historically and currently, and aining hardly any actual chocolate at all. FDA regulations state that to be labeled o the problem of cockroach and rodent “filth” allowances in the supply chain that

ca, Mexico, home of the Matlazinca Tribe. Having shared memories of her and her brother getting to mix them, she also remembers on birthdays and christmas nd she tells of carrying those memories with her when she first encountered cacao moment would begin a journey into the realm of cacao.

as once again brought into the presence of cacao in ceremony where she learned egnant they found themselves in Tijuana, far from home and access to cacao,

eal heart”, both spiritually and physically, as well as being in constant ceremony with reams and as she put it,

art, body, and bones. Nourish and delight.” in this recipe offering.

Ingredients: Corn (white, red, and purple and black mixed) ¼ cup.

NOTE: if you do not have access to all the four colors, you can use either just white or red.

Cacao Beans ¼ cup OR you can substitute cacao nibs

Copataiste ¼ cup OR you can substitute macadamia nuts

Cinnamon 1 small stick

Water 2 cups

Vanilla from one vanilla pod

Maple or Honey ¼ cup

Click photo for receipe video!

Papazoa (Papacho in Nahuatl)

Apapacho in Spanish (Give affection to your loved ones)

Recipe by: Paulina Ixim

A remedy to embrace those that are tired. To give warmth to the heart, body and bones.

Nourish and delight Procedure: Start by toasting the cocoa in a large frying pan on low to medium low heat 15-20min until the seeds start to inflate or even pop like popcorn. But be careful not to over toast as it will burn.

Remove from heat and while still warm, start by removing the shell by squishing out the seed from the inside. You can alternatively rub them gently together in your hands to remove the outer shell or use a towel to assist.

Next, toast the copataiste in a pan on medium heat for approximately 10-15min, allow to cool then cut them in half and remove the white seed.

Roast the corn in a large pan on low to medium low heat 10-15 min, careful not to burn.

Remove from pan and allow to cool.

Using a stone grinder (Metate), grind each item separately. Corn until it is a fine powder, copataiste until it's a powder or paste (if ground while still warm), and cocoa into a powder or paste.

Next, place cinnamon in the water and bring to a boil and allow to steep for 10-15 min or until the water is tinted in color.

In roughly ¼ cup of cold water, mix in ground corn.

Finally, you can combine all ingredients as well as remaining ingredients into a blender and blend to combine and adjust Maple syrup or your favorite sweetener to taste.

Alternatively, you can use a whisk or a traditional Molinillo to mix by hand, this will give you more bubbles.

Best to enjoy warm or hot.

GRATITUDES:

Julio Saqui Che’il Mayan Chocolate Paulina Ixim

A Gathering Basket Staff:

Written Content Curator, Image Curator, Creative Director, Video Curator, Program Director,

M. Karlos Baca Britt Reed Trennie Burch Quentin Glabus Kristina Stanley

THIS PUBLICATION IS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE FOLLOWING SUPPORTERS AND SPONSORS: