People of the Wild Boar

THE YAWANAWA

A LIVING LINEAGE

What has been
carried for generations remains alive today.

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For generations, the Yawanawa have carried a profound body of knowledge rooted in the forest, plant medicines, prayer, song, ceremony, and relationship with the spiritual world.

These traditions have endured through periods of profound hardship, outside pressure, and attempts to suppress their culture and ways of life. Yet the knowledge remained, protected and carried forward by elders, spiritual leaders, families, and generations committed to keeping it alive.

Today, Yawanawa songs, prayers, ceremonies, art and spiritual traditions are shared far beyond their territory, while remaining rooted in the people, land lineage from which they come.

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A spiritual tradition rooted in discipline, devotion and generations of knowledge.

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THE PEOPLE

A life inseparable from the land.

The Yawanawa live along the banks of the Gregório River, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. They are guardians of 187,125 hectares of Amazon rainforest, the vast majority of which remains intact. The territory was formally recognized in September 2023.

The forest is woven through the rhythms of Yawanawa life. It provides food, medicine and materials, and holds generations of knowledge about plants, animals, seasons and the relationships between the human, natural and spiritual worlds.

Culture is carried through community and across generations, through language, family, prayer, ceremony, art, medicine, knowledge of the forest and the teachings of elders.

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This is not a culture remembered.
It is a culture being lived.

Indigenous people participating in a traditional ceremony, with a person squatting and pouring smoke over embers in a large basin, surrounded by others in traditional attire, inside a thatched-roof structure.
A person wearing traditional indigenous attire, including a feathered headdress, face paint, and a patterned shirt, stands in front of an ornate background with intricate carvings.
A procession of indigenous people wearing traditional attire, including grass skirts and elaborate feathered headdresses, walking along a wooden bridge surrounded by lush greenery, with an audience watching from behind.
A woman with dark hair and traditional clothing gets her face painted red by another person wearing a beaded bracelet.
Close-up of a young person with traditional tribal face and body paint and jewelry, indoors with warm lighting.

VOICES OF THE YAWANAWA

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Their story, in their own words.

Hear directly from the Yawanawa about their history, their elders, their culture, and the renewal of their traditions today.

CULTURE RECLAIMED

The first contact and conflict with non-Indigenous outsiders devastated the Yawanawa population, reducing their numbers to fewer than 100 people and placing their language, spiritual traditions, and cultural knowledge at profound risk.

For decades, missionaries entered their territory and attempted to suppress Yawanawa language, rituals, and sacred practices.

In the 1980s, the Yawanawa began reclaiming control of their territory and strengthening the traditions that had been pushed underground.

What followed was not a return to the past, but a renewal of cultural identity, spiritual practice, language, and community life.

Under the guidance of elders and spiritual leaders, ceremonies, prayers, songs, art, and ancestral knowledge were brought forward again with strength and pride.

Decorative gold and red line ornament with diamond shapes in the center.

What was nearly silenced was carried forward.

What survived was not preserved in silence. It was reclaimed, practiced, and passed on.

A decorative gold and red jewelry piece with geometric design and small spherical accents.

What was nearly silenced was carried forward.

CULTURE RECLAIMED

Decorative horizontal gold and red metal ornament with geometric design and balls
Indigenous man wearing traditional feather headdress, body paint, beaded necklaces, and grass skirt, holding a spear, standing against a textured wall.

The first contact and conflict with non-Indigenous outsiders devastated the Yawanawa population, reducing their numbers to fewer than 100 people and placing their language, spiritual traditions, and cultural knowledge at profound risk.

For decades, missionaries entered their territory and attempted to suppress Yawanawa language, rituals, and sacred practices.

In the 1980s, the Yawanawa began reclaiming control of their territory and strengthening the traditions that had been pushed underground.

What followed was not a return to the past, but a renewal of cultural identity, spiritual practice, language, and community life.

Under the guidance of elders and spiritual leaders, ceremonies, prayers, songs, art, and ancestral knowledge were brought forward again with strength and pride.

A gold and red decorative horizontal border with a central diamond-shaped ornament.

What survived was not preserved in silence. It was reclaimed, practiced, and passed on.

Close-up of a decorative gold and red jewelry piece with intricate design on a black background.

Knowledge held across generations.

ANCESTRAL KNOWLEDGE

For generations, Yawanawa spiritual leaders have carried an intimate knowledge of the forest, its plants, its medicines, its prayers, its songs, and the disciplines through which that knowledge is learned.

This is not knowledge separate from daily life. It is lived, practiced, protected, and passed from one generation to the next.

Guided by elders and spiritual leaders, these traditions remain rooted in relationship with the forest, devotion to the spiritual path and responsibility to future generations.

A woman with traditional face paint and jewelry holding a large green leaf in a rainforest.
A woman with traditional face paint and jewelry holding a large green leaf in a rainforest.

MEDICINE •. PRAYER • CEREMONY • SONG • FOREST KNOWLEDGE

  • Cluster of red, fuzzy, elongated urucum seed pods with green leaves on a weathered wooden surface.
  • A hand holding a clear container filled with dark brown hapé, with a background of dirt and rocks.
  • An Yawanawa man in a green cap and striped polo shirt stirs a large pot of food in a rustic outdoor kitchen with wooden beams and a hammock in the background.
  • A man bending over, working with ayahuasca vines outdoors on a black plastic sheet, with another person nearby in the background. The scene appears to be in a natural, wooded area.
  • A Yawanawa man sitting on a wooden surface outdoors, holding a woven bag. In front of them on the surface is a straw hat with green leaves placed on top. The ground is covered with dried leaves and moss.

THE LINEAGE CONTINUES

The teachings carried forward.

A person wearing a large feather headdress and traditional face paint, holding a stick, during a cultural ceremony or celebration in a lush green environment.
A person wearing a large feather headdress and traditional face paint, holding a stick, during a cultural ceremony or celebration in a lush green environment.

  • Son of the Yawanawa leader Tuikuru and student of the late Pajé Tatá, Matsini is a joint leader of Mutum and one of the spiritual leaders of his people.

    Raised by Tuikuru to follow in his footsteps, Matsini studied directly with Tatá and carries a deep knowledge of Yawanawa stories, spirituality and tradition. Following Tatá's passing, Matsini took on the responsibility of spiritual healer within the village.

    Today, alongside his responsibilities to the families of Mutum, he continues to guide younger generations and those who come to learn from Yawanawa culture and spirituality.

A smiling woman with dark hair and traditional face paint, wearing colorful beaded jewelry and feathers, standing next to a wooden post.
A smiling woman with dark hair and traditional face paint, wearing colorful beaded jewelry and feathers, standing next to a wooden post.

  • Daughter of Chief Matsini, Keneihu has undertaken many diets under her father's guidance and is in deep study of the medicine, prayers, songs and spiritual knowledge of her people.

    From a young age she has been immersed in the responsibilities of leadership and ceremony.

    She is a bridge between generations, learning deeply, carrying the teachings with devotion and preparing for the responsibilities ahead.

A man wearing traditional indigenous attire, including a feathered headdress, face paint, and embroidered clothing, stands among green plants with a mud wall in the background.
A man wearing traditional indigenous attire, including a feathered headdress, face paint, and embroidered clothing, stands among green plants with a mud wall in the background.

  • Son of Chief Nixiwaka Biraci, Wira lives in Mutum with Keneihu, his wife.

    He is in ongoing study and sacred diets, deepening his knowledge of ancestral teachings, ceremony and Yawanawa spirituality.

    His path is one of ongoing study, discipline and deepening relationship with the spiritual traditions of his people.

The story belongs to those who live it.

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