They survived conquistadors and settlers. Now the Arhuaco are facing an even greater threat

Arhuaco people at a meeting of Indigenous communities of the Sierra Nevada in Colombia. Photograph: Raúl Arboleda/AFP/Getty Images

Around a fire in a ceremonial hut in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the Arhuaco people make a pledge. Tying traditional cotton threads around their wrists, they promise to guard the land beneath them – and then they ask for protection.

“Our culture has been preserved for thousands of years,” says Ati Quigua, an Indigenous leader. “We are a peaceful community, but now violence is coming to our land.”