Backyard Observations – Spiders

Editor’s Note: Author, illustrator, passionate conservationist and all-around cool lady, Janell Cannon is best-known for classic books like Stella Luna and Verdi – works that focus on what some consider “creepy critters,” but Janell uses her unique skill to show us the beauty and wonder of all creatures. ACT is greatly privileged to have Janell as both a friend and member of our Advisory Board — she is a fascinating person with an awesome sense of humor, love of nature and inquisitive mind. She shares her observations of nature and the wonders that we can find in our own homes, if only we paid better attention. We asked Janell for permission to share some of her findings and photographs that document fabulous aspects of common wildlife right in our own backyard, of which many of us are unaware. Enjoy!

I first noticed her yesterday, bundled in a branch of a plum tree. She is just short of an inch long in this bunched-up form, so she's big. I noticed she had a nice big orb-web stretched between the branches nearby, and the main anchor point was attached to the ground near the base of the tree so that her web would be oriented in a vertical plane. The ground anchor seemed a bit vulnerable to disruption, and by this afternoon, I noticed that her web had been destroyed.

I knew come nightfall she'd rebuild, and so I went out to watch. Since she no longer had the ground anchor, she made do with the branches around her--all of which leaned steeply outward, offering no easy way to build a web at the optimum vertical angle. She began to weave the web at a nearly 45 degree angle.

Soon enough, she finished and settled in the center to wait for dinner. I wondered if this oddly slanted trap would be effective. So, I checked back in about two hours and she had a nearly-devoured prey in her clasp. Everything was covered in fine dew and she was sparkling.

Janell Cannon
Author and Illustrator
ACT Advisory Board Member

Inga Education: An Innovative Model Enjoys National Recognition

Through our work at ACT, we see education as a pillar, a powerful tool for change. We usually take for granted education as instruction that one receives within four walls, but for indigenous groups, education is much broader than that, contrasting with western ways of acquiring knowledge.

In Colombia, western education systems have been one of the most aggressive means of acculturation among indigenous groups, in many cases making communities abandon their traditional rituals, dress and language. Nevertheless, Colombian constitutional rights since 1991 and the national compliance with Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization have allowed indigenous communities to develop an educational model that responds to their particular needs, values, and traditions as well as their social, economic and cultural desires.

It has taken many years for national legislation and policies to become effective and for indigenous communities to create their own institutions as well as the means to develop a curriculum appropriate for the Colombian intercultural context.

In this regard, we have some great news to share! Recently, the Colombian government approved the national contracting (funding) of the Yachaicury Ethno-Education School of the Inga indigenous community of the department of Caquetá to continue providing education that meets both national quality standards and indigenous traditional ways of learning. To this development, I wish to say
hallelujah! This certification is of immense importance for the recognition of indigenous rights in our country.

Because of the absence of suitable education for their youth, the Inga community of the Caquetá has developed a curriculum structured to provide coursework embracing traditional knowledge such as traditional medicine and forest stewardship, in addition to standard “western” subject matter. The Inga community has determined that new generations must be educated under the guidance of their traditional authorities, many of whom carry expert knowledge of the surrounding forests and their diversity.

At the School, approximately 80 Inga students, 5 to 18 years old, participate in training courses emphasizing sustainable agriculture, and record ancestral knowledge in their native language. Located on 136 acres, the school grounds include a natural sciences laboratory and an agro-ecological farm where the students learn firsthand the sustainable farming techniques that allow them to grow their own food, contribute to the food resources of the surrounding communities, and provide an economic base for their institution.

The Yachaicury School is the first Inga school in Colombia and the first indigenous school in the Caquetá department to receive this very important political recognition. I’ve included a video clip which highlights some of the School’s educational aspects.

Javier Ortiz Bahamón
Colombia Program Director
Amazon Conservation Team