Visions of an Indigenous Refugee DJ

Life is a Festival #114: Chabeli Chain

Recently on a trip to Ibiza I met a remarkable young woman, Chabeli Chain. Chabeli is an Indigenous refugee and advocate from the Venezuelan Amazon, who is at the beginning of her DJ career. 

On the show we discuss growing up the in the Amazon and her people’s medicine Yopo, a visionary snuff which contains DMT, Bufotenin, and 5-MeO-DMT. We talk about becoming a political refugee as the result of an instagram post and Chabeli’s journey from Venezuela to Panama, Mexico, Milan and finally Ibiza. Chabeli shares her passion for music and Indigenous advocacy through her work with the Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet. Finally we review Chabeli’s daily practices and how she cultivates joy, enthusiasm, and resilience. 

Chabeli is a DJ, model, and Indigenous advocate. She is the Indigenous Rights Advisor for the Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet (Gasp) and author of “Increasing Resilience Through Education, Inclusion and Cultural Preservation.” This was her first interview. 

Links

Timestamps

  • 10 - Growing up in the Amazon

  • :14 - Chabeli describes the Yopo medicine

  • :22 - How Chabeli became a political refugee 

  • :31 - How Chabeli became first a DJ and then a producer

  • :39 - Why Chabeli moved to Ibiza

  • :44 - Chabeli’s vision for Indigenous resilience

  • :54 - How to find joy, enthusiasm, and resilience



Graphics Designed by Andy McErlean

Audio Engineering by Trevor Coulter

Theme song ““Peculiar Colors” [Manjumasi]“ by dj atish