A Birthday Wish from Tuwe & Leah: Fish ponds and food sovereignty in the Huni Kuin village of Novo Futuro

On November 1st, our dear friend, teacher, and Kayawei Earth co-founder, Txaná Tuwe, will be celebrating his birthday! For years, Tuwe has carried a vision for the six Huni Kuin villages along the Humaitá River in Acre, Brazil: food sovereignty and clean water for the entire river. Whenever we sit down to talk about realizing this vision and the project we are co-creating together, he shares that one of the most important first steps is building fish ponds in his village, so that his community has a steady, reliable source of clean protein. This year, I would love to bring our community together to make this dream happen. November 7th is my own birthday, and my biggest wish is to see Tuwe happy and my Indigenous family one step closer to food sovereignty.

Why Fish Ponds Matter

In Novo Futuro, protein comes mostly from hunting and fishing, and each year families must travel farther and farther upriver to find enough to eat. That journey is long, costly, and increasingly dangerous. It leads deeper into the forest where uncontacted Indigenous peoples live, people who have chosen to remain apart from the outside world and whose survival depends on that forest staying undisturbed.

Three years ago, Tuwe was fishing upriver for his community, in territory the Huni Kuin share with their uncontacted neighbors. As he sat in his canoe, an arrow flew past him and pinned his shirt to the canoe, caught between his arm and his torso. The attack came from one of the uncontacted groups, who felt threatened at having to share resources that were already scarce. When he returned home, his first instinct was to go to war to protect his family and community. But in prayer, Great Spirit guided him toward an approach that would heal the whole river instead: leaving those upriver resources for the uncontacted people and focusing on building food security within his own community's villages.

These fish ponds are a direct answer to that guidance. They allow Tuwe's community to feed their families in a cleaner, safer, and more efficient way, without competing with their uncontacted neighbors for resources. In nourishing Novo Futuro, they also protect the peace and the territory of those who live beyond it, preventing conflict before it begins.

Why Two Ponds

Building a fish pond in the Amazon requires heavy machinery, and getting those machines to Novo Futuro is extremely complicated and expensive. The village is reachable only by river, and every trip involves significant transport and fuel costs. Rather than paying that cost twice, we are raising enough to build two ponds in a single effort, making the most of every dollar and every journey.

Where Your Gift Goes

Your donation covers transporting the excavation machinery upriver, digging and preparing both ponds, stocking them with native fish, and the materials and labor needed to get them running. Every part of the work will be carried out by and with the Novo Futuro community, according to their own vision and knowledge.

How Funds Reach the Village

All donations go directly to Kayawei Earth, our 508(c)(1)(a) church, and are then sent to our NGO partner on the ground who will help complete the project, Association Jiboiana. We expect construction to begin by early 2027, and we will share photo and video updates here as the ponds are dug, filled, and stocked.

If you would like your donation to be tax-deductible, you can give directly through kayaweiearth.org/donate, and your gift will still go toward the fish ponds.

Who We Are

Kayawei Earth is a 508(c)(1)(a) nonprofit I co-founded with Txaná Tuwe and Angeline Chen to bridge Amazonian Indigenous communities with the wider world through sacred reciprocity. I have spent nearly a decade studying alongside the Huni Kuin, and the Novo Futuro village is my family. Through our cultural tours in the U.S., our community has already helped fund an artesian well and supports ongoing monthly planting projects in the village. We believe in completing small, meaningful projects one at a time in service of a much greater goal, and this is our next one.

Help Us Reach Our Goal by November 1st

Thanks to the support of our incredible community, we have already raised $10,000, halfway to our total goal of $20,000! With your help, we can raise the remaining $10,000 in time for Tuwe's birthday and give his village a gift that will feed families for years to come.

When I turn 29 on November 7th, the gift I am hoping for is to witness the power of the beautiful community we have been cultivating together, and to trust more deeply in my own ability to be a bridge of healing and reciprocity between my two homes.

Every contribution matters, and sharing this page with your friends and community is a gift in itself.

Haux haux, and thank you from the team at Kayawei Earth and the village of Novo Futuro!