The Loss of Glaciers Is Inflicting a Spiritual Toll on Indigenous People

In mountain regions from the Andes to the Himalayas, Indigenous people see the retreat of glaciers as a sign that they have lost the favor of their gods or ancestors.

"In many regions, mountains, glaciers and the water originating from them maintain central roles in local religious beliefs and practices," researchers write in a recent paper. "As such, changing mountain landscapes and disappearing glaciers are not just physical consequences of climate change but also endanger the deep connection of people with their environment."

Since 2000, glaciers around the world have lost 5 percent of their ice. While this trend is driven by warming, in many alpine regions people consider the retreat of glaciers a reflection of their own actions, according to the paper, published in Nature Climate Change. 

In the Peruvian Andes, the Quechua people make a yearly pilgrimage to the Qulqipunku glacier. Historically, pilgrims would gather ice from the glacier. Now, as the glacier retreats, they are opting to collect meltwater instead. The decline of the glacier, many believe, is a sign that the mountain spirit is tired of listening to their prayers, according to the paper.

The Aymara people of the Bolivian Andes see the glaciers around the Milluni Valley as their ancestors. When, in 2009, the Chacaltaya glacier melted away, the Aymara believed they were losing their protectors, researchers say. As the ice recedes, many see their retreat as a sign of spiritual imbalance, researchers say. In the Himalayas, traditional people also believe the peaks and glaciers are the homes of protective deities. Similar dynamics are at play in the Rwenzori Mountains of East Africa.

"Local communities express feelings of loss and culpability as their home landscapes are irrevocably altered," said lead author Elizabeth Allison, of the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. "Traditional prophecies depict ultimate ruin in the event of the glaciers' disappearance."

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