Rainbow Hawk, One of the Last True Hippies

It was in 2001 when I arrived in La Paz after I had been hitchhiking up the Pacific coast of Mexico. I only had my backpack, some dive gear, and a camera. Money was non-existent, so I was looking for a new place to work and live.

By the malecón, in one of the side streets where there were only foot traffic, some cafes and a few restaurants, a man wearing a straw hat and sporting a long white beard was observing me with very piercing eyes. I sat down with him after he proffered a greeting. It was Rainbow Hawk, with his dogs, Ricky and Bruja.

He became a bank of information for me and was one of the first persons whom I got to know in La Paz.

Later on I got my first job as a dive guide for a very low salary. With the money that I earned, I was able to rent a small room with a refrigerator, a cooking plate, a small TV and shower without hot water. I paid 80 bucks a month.

After work I used to pass by Rainbow’s spot on my second-hand bike, which I bought in the segunda (second-hand shop) in Chametla. I would stop to talk and listen to him while having a beer.

Rainbow told me about the time when he bought emeralds in Colombia and smuggled them up to the States, and the money from that effort supported schools in Mexico; how he was part of organizing the Woodstock; the big protest against the Vietnam war outside of the White House; and of course, the Rainbow Gatherings. I also heard stories of his time as an elephant trainer in a circus. He spoke softly, in a mumbling low voice, so sometimes I missed some of what he said.

If I remember right, he arrived in La Paz on a sailboat. He had a daughter and two sons who never visited him.

Rainbow Hawk did dot paintings that he copied, signed, and sold. I still have one of his works at home; I bought it from him many years ago.

One day, I asked him, “Rainbow, where do you live?”

“Oh, I sleep in the car, with my dogs.”

Since I was working during the day and Rainbow was in the callejón (side street) at night, I said, “Take your dogs and you can stay at my place!”

Rainbow ended up staying with me for some months. He and the dogs, Ricky and Bruja, slept on the bed, while I stayed on the floor in the little room with a floor area of 4 sqm.

In the winter of 2002, I suddenly received an offer to jump onboard the megayacht Mystere to go to Acapulco. The catch was, I had to go pack and leave that day. I walked over to the callejón and informed him that I had to go; he could stay on for the rest of the month. He warned me that Bruja was at home and about to give birth, so watch out.

Give birth, she did! I went straight to the closet to grab my backpack when I came home. In the corner of the little closet were five or six pups (I don’t remember) who were using my backpack as their makeshift bed. My bag was covered in hair and blood after the natural delivery. Bruja was barking and growling at me all the while. Even if we knew each other well, a mother is very protective of her newborns. It took me a good hour sitting and talking with her to be able to finally reach around her to grab my backpack. After washing off the traces of childbirth in the shower, I hurriedly packed my stuff and left La Paz.

After my stint on Mystere, I came back to La Paz as it had become a base for me. Rainbow had stayed in the room for a while, but he eventually left. He had a couple of Rainbow Gatherings in La Paz that I never managed to attend. There was a project to get a piece of land in Todos Santos that never took off. I moved away years later, but I met with him now and then when I was in town. We would sit and have a chat, and I would occasionally leave something for him. Ricky and Bruja had long gone; he’d had a few dogs since then. The last one was called Rosa.

Rainbow Hawk was a fixture in La Paz. Every time I looked in to the callejón, he was there. Since I didn’t live in La Paz anymore, we would email each other every now and then.

I was in La Paz for a private trip a few weeks before he died. I had written to him, but I didn’t get any answer; nor was he in the callejón when I passed by on my motorbike. Weeks later I learned from my wife that he had died.

I constantly remind myself not to take people for granted, to assume that they will be there all the time. Life is fragile and people suddenly wander off.

I miss you, Rainbow. I’m thankful for the time we had together and wish you well in your travel. You are one of the last true hippies!

Rainbow Hawk is a Keeper/Carrier of the Prophecy of the Warriors of the Rainbow: Indigenous Peoples’ Prophecy

“When the Mother Earth is sick and the animals are dying, there will come a tribe of peoples from all cultures who believe in deeds, not words, and they will restore the Mother Earth to her former beauty.”