The Pushaina family has a long tradition of fishing. Percy, one of the community’s most important divers, says that the machines can be heard underwater and that he has found pieces of coal inside the fish.
From the sea, thousands of lights illuminate the port of El Cerrejón, from where some 80,000 tons of coal are shipped daily to Europe, while hundreds of indigenous families living nearby still lack electricity. La Guajira, Colombia. 2022.
Wakes in Wayuu culture can last from 3 to 5 days, during which time the fire is kept burning. On the last day, family members scatter the ashes in the wind as an offering to the deceased.
The sun in the coastal desert of La Guajira is relentless. Wayúu women prepare a mixture of a local mushroom and goat fat and apply it to their faces to protect their skin from the sun’s rays.
From inside a car, the rain and sand form a kind of tears falling from the sky onto the Pushaina family’s houses.
The community of Medialuna, in Colombia’s Guajira region, is mainly made up of fishermen. At dawn, the fishermen who have spent the night at sea return from their work with their catch, and local families flock to the beach to get their share of this food supply.
Alfredo, 58, lives next to the El Cerrejón railway tracks. This proximity has caused health problems, environmental impacts, and spiritual disturbances. The community shares a collective dream in which Yoluja, an evil spirit, travels on the train and arrives at their homes, leaving misery and disease in his wake.
The El Cerrejón railway runs 150 kilometers through La Guajira. Goat herders walk alongside the tracks to reach their communities in a divided territory that separated family settlements.
The family expresses concern about the condition of their lungs, as the roofs, skin, and clothes hanging on the clotheslines are covered in this coal dust.
Esther lost her daughter to a lung disease caused by the work she did for years at the mining company’s facilities.
Forty years after El Cerrejón arrived, the Pushaina family home is still lit by candles and a battery-powered lamp. The halo of light behind it comes from the company’s port, which has had electricity for years.
Wayúu women are responsible for mourning and bidding farewell to the deceased. Although men participate, it is the women who initiate and conclude the mourning period, which can last minutes or hours. Covering the head is essential during the ritual.
ESP
Amable de 80 años todas las mañanas se levanta a conseguir leña para cocinar. En el fondo, frente a su casa, ve pasar a diario los buques de la empresa minera que transportan carbón de La Guajira a Europa.
POR
Todas as manhãs, Amable, de 80 anos, levanta-se para ir buscar lenha para cozinhar. Ao fundo, em frente à sua casa, vê passar diariamente os navios da empresa mineira que transportam carvão de La Guajira para a Europa.
ENG
Every morning, 80-year-old Amable gets up to gather firewood for cooking. In the background, in front of his house, he watches the mining company’s ships pass by every day, transporting coal from La Guajira to Europe.
ESP
Poo de 81 años se dirige al pueblo más cercano, Uribia, para una cita médica debido a problemas de visión que lo están dejando ciego. El tren lo acompaña: detrás de él, la locomotora corre paralela al bus que lo lleva a su destino.
POR
Poo, de 81 anos, dirige-se à cidade mais próxima, Uribia, para uma consulta médica devido a problemas de visão que o estão deixando cego. O trem o acompanha: atrás dele, a locomotiva corre paralela ao ônibus que o leva ao seu destino.
ENG
81-year-old Poo heads to the nearest town, Uribia, for a doctor’s appointment due to vision problems that are causing him to go blind. The train accompanies him: behind him, the locomotive runs parallel to the bus that takes him to his destination.
ESP
La familia Pushaina recorre desde la casa de Jalisco, hermano menor de Poo, al cementerio cargando su feretro.
POR
A família Pushaina percorre o caminho desde a casa de Jalisco, irmão mais novo de Poo, até o cemitério, carregando o caixão.
ENG
The Pushaina family walks from the home of Jalisco, Poo’s younger brother, to the cemetery carrying his coffin.
ESP
Una familia de la zona traslada el ataúd de un pariente por el desierto, desde la ranchería hasta el cementerio. El sol proyecta una procesión de sombras distorsionadas.
POR
Uma família da região transporta o caixão de um parente pelo deserto, da fazenda até o cemitério. O sol projeta uma procissão de sombras distorcidas.
ENG
A local family carries the coffin of a relative through the desert, from the ranch to the cemetery. The sun casts a procession of distorted shadows.
ESP
En las vigilias de madrugada, los chivos se sacrifican y se destinan a la comida de la familia del difunto y los invitados. Tras el sacrificio, los niños juegan con los cuernos simulando ser chivos.
POR
Nas vigílias da madrugada, os bodes são sacrificados e destinados à alimentação da família do falecido e dos convidados. Após o sacrifício, as crianças brincam com os chifres, fingindo ser bodes.
ENG
During the early morning vigils, goats are sacrificed and used to prepare food for the family of the deceased and their guests. After the sacrifice, the children play with the horns, pretending to be goats.
ESP
En los velorios, durante los cuales el fuego se mantiene encendido. En el último día, los familiares esparcen las cenizas al viento como ofrenda al difunto.
POR
Nos velórios, durante os quais o fogo permanece aceso. No último dia, os familiares espalham as cinzas ao vento como oferenda ao falecido.
ENG
At the wake, during which the fire is kept burning. On the last day, family members scatter the ashes in the wind as an offering to the deceased.
In Wayúu culture, cemeteries are the most sacred places. Not only do they bring the whole family together at funerals, but they also symbolize ownership of the territory, like a deed certifying their property.
The elders are the memory of the Wayúu: the deceased, the stars. They hold the history of the arrival of the coal mine because they lived through it. Many have passed away, few remain, trying to unravel the truth.
A few months ago, Poo Pushaina (81) dreamed about his older brother, who had passed away. In the dream, his brother arrived in a vehicle and said to him, “I’m going to take our younger brother Jalisco with me; he’s suffering too much. Wait for me, I’ll come back for you soon.” The Pushaina family, members of the Wayúu indigenous people, live in the coastal desert of La Guajira, in northern Colombia, where their lives are deeply connected to the sea and the desert. In their tradition, each dawn begins with the question: Jamaya Pira Puin? —“What did you dream last night?”— reaffirming the role of dreams as warnings and links to ancestral wisdom. Yolüja is a visual exploration of those dreams and nightmares, shaped by decades of territorial conflict and extractivism. The impact has been devastating. In communities near the mining project, respiratory diseases exceed the national average. The situation is exacerbated by particulate matter in the air and drought caused by the alteration of water sources. Added to this are the compensation processes as part of a prior consultation that, in compliance with ruling T-704 of 2016 of the Colombian Constitutional Court, the mining company has been forced to carry out, deepening the fragmentation of the territory and internal conflicts.
Yolüja has been built up over years of constant dialogue with the Pushaina family, a family of fishermen displaced 40 years ago by the expansion of El Cerrejón, Latin America’s largest open-pit coal mine. Like them, hundreds of Wayúu families were uprooted, their villages destroyed, and their water wells contaminated or dried up. Together with other communities, they have fought legally against the state and the mining company, denouncing environmental destruction, spiritual collapse, and forced displacement.
Death did not only come with coal dust in their lungs and poisoned water: it advances through the desert on iron rails. The Wayúu call the train Yolüja—demon or evil spirit—a force that destroys everything in its path, cutting off ancestral routes and deepening dispossession. This historical burden has sown collective depression: illness, loss of purpose, and fractured identity.
While coal lights millions of homes in Europe, the Pushaina family continues to wait for justice. Today, Poo is the last of his generation and dreams of returning to his land before he dies, restoring what was lost and giving his family the promised progress that never came.
