Standing on Sacred Ground

- These places are where the real nature of the world

glows and emanates, yeah.

- The mountains will be here long after we're gone

and they are sacred beings unto themselves,

- I think the West hasn't quite understood the need

to have a spirituality that links to the land

upon which they live.

- Long before the idea of national parks people

had sacred sites, the original protected lands.

For the dominant world religions,

the holy lands are in the Middle East--

Jerusalem, Mecca.

But for the world's indigenous people,

sacred lands are all around us and they are under siege.

In this series, eight threatened cultures

make a stand on sacred ground.

- The culture and the ecology of the planet

are disappearing hand in hand.

This is my land.

I'm standing on my land.

You have no right.

- Our history tells us we know how to fight.

No mining on sacred land.

- That they've tried instruct Indians to be capitalists

ever since you got here, but we don't value what you value.

We own the land.

We own the water.

We own the sky.

We own everything.

We have to shift our attitude of ownership of nature

to relationship with nature.

The moment you change from ownership to relationship,

you create a sense of the sacred.

- In northern California, a tribe

tries to hold on to a stretch of river

threatened by expansion of one of the West's biggest dams.

- This is not a recreational area for us.

This is a life way.

- And in the Russian Republic of Altai,

shamans and activists confront a flood

of tourists, a gas pipeline that would cut through a World

Heritage site, and the destruction of ancient burials.

.

- Traditional people have a hold of a truth

that we set aside thousands of years ago

and it's not primitive.

It's profound.

And it is not part of the past.

It's part of the future.

- The largest country in the world, Russia,

is home to dozens of indigenous cultures.

One of the most secretive and beautiful

survived ancient invaders and Soviet repression

at the crossroads of Central Asia, the mystical Altai

republic.

- Life is lived in three realms and the song of the throat

singer reaches them all.

The low tone is for the world below, the high for the realm

above.

In this middle ground, the spirit journeys

of singers, healers, and shamans bring the world into balance.

- The word "shaman" originated in Siberia.

Traces of human life here go back to the Stone Age.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991,

the Altai republic was born.

The transition from government ownership of land

under Soviet control to a new Russian system allowing

privatization has left sensitive areas vulnerable.

So Altaians have created parks on their own

to protect history, biodiversity, and their beliefs

about the land.

At mountain passes and river crossings,

tying ribbons is an act of gratitude

to the spirits of place.

- Pilgrims still pray in these mountains

but most tourists come here to play.

Foreign investment in the Altai as a place of adventure

is causing a collision of values.

The founder of Altai's first nature parks,

Danil Mamyev is a geologist and a practitioner

of shamanic traditions.

In both worlds he carries responsibilities

for stones and mountains.

Mapping sacred lands to protect them,

Mamyev hopes to minimize damage from the growing

presence of outsiders.

This new indigenous protected area will regulate tourism

while ensuring community access to the sacred mountain

at the heart of the park, Uch-Enmek.

- Before approaching the sacred mountain,

Danil is blessed by Arzhan, a shaman who

can see into the three realms and remove obstacles

from the path.

The fire is a doorway to the spirit world

and milk is a pure offering of gratitude.

- Russia's state energy company, Gazprom,

is planning to build a natural gas pipeline directly

across Altai's fragile tundra and cultural sites,

bisecting a UNESCO World Heritage site,

the Ukok Plateau.

The pipeline will open the Chinese border

for the first time, creating an energy corridor

to one of the world's fastest growing economies.

- A place for listening and reflection, the Ukok Plateau

is known as a quiet zone.

It is the source of great rivers that flow north of the Arctic

Ocean and home to the endangered snow leopard.

Burial kurgans hide ancient heroes who are still honored

today.

- Local opponents of the pipeline

organize protests that couldn't have taken place

under previous governments.

Gazprom officials who came to Altai for hearings

were met with fierce resistance.

- In Altai, Danil Mamyev envisioned

a new model for parks.

Biodiversity and cultural sites are both protected here

and local people continue to live

within the park boundaries.

Park advocates race the clock as they

work to propose an alternate route for Gazprom's pipeline.

- Shamans and scientists are working together

to persuade the Russian government

to give legal protection to ancient cultural sites

and natural sites, sacred springs, and healing rocks.

- Altai was transformed after the 1917 Russian Revolution.

Nomadic herders were forced onto collective farms,

resulting in devastating famines.

In the 1930s, under Josef Stalin's iron grip,

thousands of Altaians died in political purges and labor

camps.

- Mainstream religions and native mysticism

were brutally repressed in the Soviet Union.

After examination by Stalin's scientists

for any supernatural abilities, shamans of Altai were killed

and their belongings were burned or shipped off to museums.

- Drawn by Altai's pristine beauty, visitors

are mostly unaware of local customs and taboos.

Altai has been discovered.

Resorts for summer pleasure and winter skiing

are under construction on newly privatized lands.

- Tourism creates new jobs and increases local pride

in Altai's culture and history.

It's a mixed blessing.

Westerners now come to Altai as spiritual tourists.

At Mount Belukha, Altai's ties most sacred peak,

European shamans bring paying customers

for healing ceremonies.

- Everybody has a different connection

with the spirits from this area and they find themself

how to do that.

And I am very glad about the people who come

with me because they really--

all of them is very open.

They don't need knowledge about history of the place.

They need connection with the spirits, connection

and the nature.

Now it's time for connection with the spirit of the wolf.

The wolf is coming for you from the North.

- Altaian shamans believe that imitation of their rituals

brings personal harm to visitors and spiritual pollution

to their sacred places.

- Pilgrim or tourist, the hunger to explore and connect

is universal.

These guardians of other sacred sites

from all over Central Asia come together

to share ways of engaging tourists

in an intimate conversation with nature.

- From Uch-Enmek Mountain, they follow Danil Mamyev

on a pilgrimage into the heart of Altai.

- The delegation of sacred site guardians

follows the route of the proposed natural gas

pipeline onto the Ukok Plateau.

The local guardians teach their guest