Rapaka Wisdom:
The Earth
This course is an invitation to see life differently.
Manari Ushigua shares teachings rooted in territory and lived experience, not as lessons to memorize, but as ways of understanding how life actually functions. Throughout the course, he speaks about the Earth as a living system—one where water, trees, air, animals, and humans are deeply connected, and where every action carries consequence.
Rather than offering formulas or solutions, these teachings ask us to pay attention. To observe what happens when balance is respected, and what happens when it is broken. Through story and reflection, Manari explains how the spiritual and material worlds move together, and how forgetting this relationship has shaped the challenges we face today.
This course is not about changing who you are.
It is about remembering how to live with responsibility, awareness, and care within a living world.
Welcome
Thank you for being here.
These teachings come from my relationship with the territory, the forest, and the life around me. They were not created to give answers, but to help you pay attention to how things are connected.
As you move through the classes, take your time. Listen carefully. What matters most is not understanding everything right away, but how you carry what you hear into your own life.
I’m glad you are here to listen.
— Manari Ushigua
Listen Differently
We’ll start by slowing down. Not to escape the world, but to see it more clearly. These teachings invite us to listen, beyond quick opinions, so we can understand how territory, life, and responsibility are connected.
See the Whole System
Manari shares a Sapara understanding of the Earth as a living system, where water, trees, air, animals, and humans are not separate. We’ll explore how imbalance shows up, what creates it, and what it asks of us.
Bring It Into Real Life
This course isn’t about memorizing ideas. It’s about how we live. We’ll leave with practical reflections and actions we can apply to our choices, our projects, and the way we relate to land and life systems—wherever we are.
This course is:
A 7-week learning experience shared through live sessions Rooted in Sapara knowledge and lived experience
Designed to be listened to slowly and carried into daily life
This course is not:
A certification or training program
A step-by-step method
A quick solution or self-help formula
Course Outline
Opening Ceremony: Aligning Mind and Heart
1
We’ll begin with an opening ceremony to help us fully arrive. This first class creates space to listen and connect with the land and the natural world before moving into the teachings. It’s about setting the tone for how we’ll learn together.
Understanding the World Through Sapara Knowledge
2
Manari shares how the Sapara understand the world as both spiritual and physical at the same time. Through story, he explains how the world was formed, how these two realities interact, and why recognizing this connection helps us see life and responsibility differently.
How Living Beings Support Life on Earth
3
In this class, we explore how trees, water, air, soil, and other parts of the natural world support life together. Manari explains the role each one plays and how they are connected, helping us understand what happens when balance is disrupted and why that balance matters for life, including our own.
Why Caring for the Elements Matters
4
This session focuses on why caring for water, air, land, and other elements is essential. Manari explains how these elements sustain life and what happens when they are neglected or overused.
Making Everyday Choices That Support Life
5
A practical class focused on daily actions. We look at planting, creating projects, and making decisions in ways that respect ecosystems and support life rather than harm it.
Guest Session
6
A special guest joins the course to offer another perspective connected to land, life, and responsibility, expanding the conversation and deepening the learning.
Questions, Reflection, and Integration
7
We close the course with time for questions and reflection. This final session focuses on integrating what we’ve learned and considering how to carry it forward into everyday life.
** The teachings shared in this course are Indigenous intellectual and cultural knowledge belonging to the Sapara people. They are shared with responsibility and are not intended to be extracted, reproduced, or used outside the context of this course. Participants are asked to engage with this material with respect, care, and integrity, honoring the living culture and territory from which these teachings come.What participants Will take away from this course
A clearer understanding of how life systems are connected
Participants gain insight into how land, water, trees, animals, and human life affect one another, and why these connections matter in the world today.
A grounded way to think about responsibility and impact
The course helps participants understand cause and effect in natural systems, and how everyday choices, projects, and actions can support balance or contribute to imbalance.
Exposure to Indigenous knowledge rooted in lived experience
Participants learn directly from Sapara teachings shared with care, offering perspectives on territory and life that are rarely accessible in public learning spaces.
Who is this course for?
This course is for people who want to better understand how land, life, and human responsibility are connected. It may be especially meaningful for educators, artists, organizers, environmental practitioners, and anyone interested in Indigenous perspectives on living systems.
About Manari
Manari Ushigua is a Sapara leader, traditional healer, and cultural knowledge holder from the Ecuadorian Amazon. He comes from a lineage of spiritual practitioners and was trained from a young age in forest knowledge, dreamwork, and ancestral healing practices rooted in Sapara cosmology.
Manari has played a central role in protecting Sapara territory and culture, leading efforts against extractive industries that threaten the rainforest and Indigenous ways of life. He has served as President of the Sapara Federation and as Vice President of CONAIE, Ecuador’s national Indigenous confederation, representing Indigenous communities in national and international spaces, including the United Nations.
His work also includes cultural preservation and education. Through initiatives such as the Naku Foundation and Naku Center, as well as programs like this one, Manari supports economic and educational models grounded in healing, cultural continuity, and environmental responsibility.
Internationally recognized for his leadership in climate and Indigenous advocacy, Manari connects the protection of the Amazon to broader questions of human responsibility, balance, and the future of life on Earth. His teachings emphasize lived relationship with territory, the importance of dreams and memory, and the responsibility to leave a good story for future generations.
These teachings are shared with respect and permission. They are not meant to be extracted, quoted out of context, or turned into trends. Participants are asked to engage with care and responsibility.
How This Course Supports the Naku Foundation
This course was created to support the work of the Naku Foundation. Proceeds from registrations help fund Indigenous-led initiatives focused on protecting Sapara territory, preserving cultural knowledge, and supporting life-sustaining ecosystems in the Amazon.
Frequently Asked Questions
-
No prior knowledge is required. This course is designed to be accessible to anyone interested in learning about land, life, and human responsibility.
-
The course is offered as a live, weekly series. Each session is recorded, and replays are available for registered participants.
-
If you miss a live class, you’ll be able to watch the replay at your own pace.
-
The course is taught in Spanish, with real-time translation into English during the live sessions. Participants who speak English can ask questions in English, and those questions will be translated so everyone can participate. Replays are available with English translation as well.
-
Proceeds from this course support the work of the Naku Foundation and its Indigenous-led initiatives focused on territory, culture, and ecosystem protection.
Upcoming Events
-
Opening Ceremony
02/26 7:0PM-8:00PM EST
-
Understanding the World Through Sapara Knowledge
03/02 7:00-8:00PM EST
-
How Living Beings Support Life on Earth
03/09 7:00-8:00PM EST