De'Aruhuä Indigenous Chocolate
Amerindian Wild Cacao from the Masters of the Forest
Pure, Organic, Wild-Grown, Original, Single-Origin, Fine and Aromatic Indigenous Chocolate
De'aruhua the 'Guardians of the Forest'
De'aruhua pronounced (dey-are-wa) in the Piaroa language means "masters of the forest", we are also known as the knowledgeable ones and/or as the protectors of the forest.
It is the De'Aruhuä men and women that plant, prune and harvest the cacao fruit from the wild trees of the Guiana Highlands forest, in the 1980s we began to propagate the wild cacao that grew around us. Today the cacao tree is planted as an agroforestry crop around the Huottüja (Piaroa) communities across our territory which help the De'Aruhuä (forest masters) to harvest, naturally ferment and sun-dry our cacao from more than 500 conucos.
Huǫttųją, Huottüja or Wötʰïhä (Piaroa) refers to our tribe, people, culture, ethnic group and our language which is distinct. The name Piaroa was implied upon us during the colonial period by the Spanish, we call ourselves the Huottüja.
Amerindian De'Aruhuä (Cacaoteros) have been practicing sustainable agroforestry for thousands of years and are largely responsible for the 150+ zero-impact carbon-neutral scattered ecologically sustainable villages across our native territory of 33,000 km2 (larger than Belgium) with a population almost 20,000 people.
Our Website
The De'Aruhuä website, trade name and trademarks are being developed, operated and projected legally by Globcal International represented together with the Huottüja Foundation (in English) because the great majority of our business is expected to be in the United States and Europe. Additionally De'Aruhuä maintains a blog and social media pages which are linked in this project to legally and transparently create project funding for the Huottuja People notwithstanding the government.
Indigenous Product
De'Aruhuä Cacao (Cocoa) and soon De'Aruhuä Indigenous Chocolate are produced and will-be made and shipped directly by the Huottüja people of the native Piaroa territory located in Colombia and Venezuela. Products are qualified as being of "indigenous origin" and likewise items purchased directly from De'Aruhuä that are artisan, hand-crafted, or wild-grown (collected or foraged) products may include a supplemental certificate of authenticity from the Huottuja Foundation or Colombia's Indigenous Federation. Products and services provided by the foundation are always tax-exempt and duty-free. Currently there is a project underway to create an indigenous Amerindian collective certification mark.
Indigenous Chocolate ™
"Indigenous Chocolate" produced by indigenous peoples is exclusive in that it exceeds all certification jurisdiction and authority of the laws of nations; indigenous chocolate must be an heirloom variety, organic because it is wild-grown, traditionally fermented, sun dried, roasted and and manufactured at the point of origin within territory occupied by particular tribe; indigenous chocolate differs greatly enough to be classified on its own. With the legal assistance of Globcal International it will become a term that can only be used by about 30 tribal groups in South America.
Just in case they cannot defend the term for us, we arrogated the trade name of the former Indigenous Chocolate, LLC in Lakeside, California; we have made it our trademark in common law! Indigenous made chocolate and made with indigenous cacao do not make indigenous chocolate, the missing ingredient is indigeneity, this is the proof that something is truly indigenous, there are lots of imposters.
De'Aruhuä Indigenous Chocolate ™ Company
A Forest-to-Bar Factory Initiative
The primary objective of our company is to plan, project and promote the development of De'Aruhuä Chocolate with the Huottüja people using our wild collected cocoa beans from the Guiana Highlands moist-forest biome in a proposed local cooperative state-of-the-art small-batch chocolate making factory with the Huottüja Foundation and the international community of chocolate lovers.
The chocolate produced by the Huottüja (De'Aruhuä) will promote our traditional culture, customs, lifestyle, indigenous knowledge, spirituality, values and worldview as autonomous, independent and sovereign originaries. All of the chocolate produced by the cooperative factory will be sold directly to De'Aruhuä Chocolate consumers and distributors as a tax-exempt non-profit indigenous product for national and international distribution to the European Union and Canada.
De'Aruhuä has over 50 new exciting chocolate superfood combinations to introduce in order to create the perfect "Food of the Gods," recipes gain their unique indigenous flavors through terroir, climate, natural fermentation techniques, biomaceration, combining superfruits like acai, borojo, manaca, moriche or pijiguao and adding medicinal tea/plant extracts. Our recipes have led to distinctive aromas and flavors that can vary due to terroir and seasonal climate, De'Aruhuä aims to stabilize these flavors in its business development. We will sweeten chocolate with melipona honey which has natural antibiotics, we also produce our own red cane sugar which has more phytonutrients than white sugar. Pure indigenous ceremonial chocolate will also be produced from the wild cocoa.
All ingredients are grown, collected, harvested and processed by indigenous Huottüja on their native lands, once we are adequately funded we will become operational at our new permanent location on Via Gavilan at Kilometer 24 near Barranco Colorado hosted by our fiduciary sponsor Ecology Crossroads in the USA.
De'Aruhuä Indigenous Chocolate™
De'Aruhuä Chocolate will be made from Piaroa Organic Wild (POW) Cacao, a natural fine aromatic single-origin cocoa bean direct from the forests of the Guiana Highlands, home of the indigenous De'Aruhuä, the "Guardians of the Forest."
One of the most impressive things about the Amazon besides the forest, is the sun which the Piaroa use for preparing their cacao before making it into chocolate.
Chocolate with Indigeneity™
Our product offers a new element to the taste and flavor of chocolate which can only be found in our hand-made product it is a combination of cru, terroir and a third indescribable flavor element we call "indigeneity" which are derived through the combination of regional wild harvested exotic fruits and medicinal plants that are added to the chocolate made by the indigenous Huottüja.
Forest to Bar™ is also a trademark of our product. Terms such as "Guardians of the Forest" do not need to be trademarked because they have been used by third-parties to describe our indigenous culture as early as 1950.
Join the De'Aruhuä Chocolate Project
You can support the Masters of the Forest in their quest to produce fine aromatic chocolate with what is best called indigeneity (wildness) which comes out through the people producing it and the magical remote forested lands in which it is grown. We fully expect to produce some of the purest, organic, wild chocolate flavor combinations that will be classified as nutraceutical foods, ceremonial products and indigenous medicines.
A complete (living) proposal has been developed to form the basis for the De'Aruhuä Company and finance a five year business plan through private tax exempt investment, partnerships, charitable bonds or cooperative membership. The program will be open until World Chocolate and Cocoa Day on October 1, 2022 and then begin producing chocolate as soon as possible.
The project is based on a 5 year business plan and has several different investment options. Once 30% of all projected funding is raised the first equipment orders will be made and the building of the factory will begin.
Join us as a member with a 1% LP option, to earn dividends!
This startup venture is scheduled to begin in May 2022.
Final Notes
The Huottuja De'aruhua (masters of the forest) have been using ethnobotanicals (entheogens) like cacao for more than 2,000 years, cacao is endemic to our territory, the cocoa bean exists in our folklore and has become an essential species of our modern conucos (food forests); we have a lot of it - more than 100 heavy tons each year. It has been used by village shamans in their rituals for centuries. Only now in the 21st century with the Internet can we transparently begin to assimilate our knowledge for the greater understanding of the world outside our territory with technology in an attempt to become recognized equitably in our own right as natural agroforesters by marketing our product directly. Cacao has proven beneficial in creating a source of income in many villages, we expect making our own chocolate using artisan and craft methods and techniques will also affect our forest based villages.
Ultimately how well we can make our chocolate will depend on how much money we can raise to buy equipment, how well we can train indigenous employees, how practical we can build an off-grid factory, and finally how long it will take to create a market for our product. We are taking a full year before we start building or at least until we can raise half the funds we need. Right now our business plan is looking to create a brand identity that has incomparable added value factors and reflects our culture and our environment.