Underwater Panther Coalition Releases Powerful Album ‘Music for the Mother’

Underwater Panther Coalition has announced the release of ‘Music For The Mother,’ a debut album featuring the Ancestral Teyuna Music from the Indigenous peoples of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region in Colombia. The New York based record label’s firm purpose is to represent and amplify the voices of Indigenous artists and support Indigenous ways of being. The release also coincides with Indigenous People’s Day, a day that honours and celebrates the cultures, history and stories of Native Indigenous Americans.

‘Music For The Mother’ is a deeply meaningful album for many reasons, it is the first record ever to feature a female from Teyuna and is also the first to feature the spiritual leaders of the region Mamos and Zaga. Each beautifully crafted track on the album is created to promote healing and cultural integrity through song and ceremony.  

“Let me tell you about our ancestral sounds. Whenever we play our ancestral music, when we sing our songs, we must bring our thoughts to a specific place, a specific mindset,” said Mamo Rodrigo (Kogi).“We bring our thoughts to a place where Nature can hear us, a place where she can know we are singing directly to her. That way she can feel that we are calling her. We are speaking with her, calling her name. We are calling to help nourish her and to converse with her.” 

Recorded by the spiritual leaders, the ‘Music For The Mother’ is an immersive body of work which transports the soul to new spiritual planes of tranquillity and invites a deep connection to the wonders of the natural world. The release is a significant and defining moment of preservation for these Indigenous peoples, which tracks a gratitude for the natural world, spiritual connections to the Earth, as well as responsibilities to heal it and its inhabitants. 

The mountains of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta of Colombia are the sacred ancestral lands of Indigenous Peoples: the Kogi, Arhuaco, Wiwa, and Kankuamo. Together, they number over 30,000 people. The inhabitants share the belief that they are the guardians of the heart of the world. Their spiritual leaders are called Mamos. The Mamo is charged with maintaining the natural order of the world through songs, meditations and ritual offerings. 

Through deep meditation, ritual offerings, songs, and prayers, the Mamos follow the law of caring for the Sierra Nevada to maintain the equilibrium of life for the sacred mountains and the entire world. They are concerned that non-Indigenous people are plundering and dismembering the Earth.