Preserving Yawanawá culture

Help to preserve Yawanawá culture and their role as guardians of the rainforest by funding a school of Yawanawá traditions and help to raise their voice in front of politicians, businesses and the public.

Who are the Yawanawa?

Yawanawá are the folk of the "white-lipped peccary", an indigenous folk of Pano language living on the Rio Gregorio, Acre Brazil and in the adjacent area of Perú and Bolivia. Their tribe has lived here for thousands of years. Their territory spreads over 187,944 hectares and 95% of the biodiversity of this land remains intact. Their living is still based mainly on hunting and fishing culture, integrating with cultivation of corn, yuca, rice, banana and other forms of tuberous vegetation that are increasing now with the agroforest culture activities. They are specialists in the technique of art and crafts, chanting, playing music, and translating the traditional stories into a modern interpretation. They have lived in great balance with the Amazon rainforest for the longest time but today Westernization and the political and environmental impacts of global consumption is impacting this equilibrium.

Why do they need support?

For thousands of years indigenous people have been role models in living in balance with nature. They safeguard 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity. They are the guardians of the rainforest and therefore a vital force in preventing climate change. As a fact, indigenous protected areas of the Amazon rainforest experienced just 1/3 the amount of deforestation as non-protected areas. Forests are one of the most important carbon sinks to maintain in order to mitigate global warming and keep the balance of mother earth.

Their important role is in danger because of several reasons:

The Yawanawá population currently only consists of ca. 1200 people. They are facing political and environmental challenges such as pollution of their territory through industry and the influence of Westernization.

Political challenges: They have been in fights over their rights over their territory since the first contact with Western society in the 16th century when their land rights were claimed by rubber barons and Yawanawá people were enslaved. Even if their territory recently got officially recognised by the Brazilian government they remain underrepresented in political and industrial decision making.

Environmental challenges: Their villages are already experiencing heatwaves and floods. According to the IPCC, the area of Brazil where the Yawanawá live will be at high risk and highly vulnerable to climate change. However, as many other indigenous communities their awareness of the risks linked to climate change is limited and they are not part of the political conversation around climate change. For example, at last year's COP27 (the world’s most known annual Climate Conference) only 1% of delegates were Indigenous representatives.

Westernization: The Yawanawá culture is more and more connected and influenced by western society. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and in an ideal state this also means union of cultures and reconciliations of conflicts linked to colonization. They have stories and it’s part of the prophecy by Mukawiní (wisdom keeper of the Yawanawá) to break the invisible wall that was keeping the people of the two worlds divided. The Yawanawá tribe is heartwarmingly open to spiritual seekers from all over the world who want to connect and support the villages. However, with this openness to the western influences and digitalisation, the original culture is getting increasingly lost. Especially the younger generations of the Yawanawá are adopting unsustainable lifestyles of western society and their cultural heritage such as the transmission of their original language is in decline. The Yawanawá and other indigenous people have lived in balance with nature for thousands of years and they hold great value to pass on these skills and values to help modern societies to reconnect with nature.

To keep the balance with the environment and ensure that the Yawanawá remain the guardians of the rainforest it is key to:

a) Preserve and pass on the authentic knowledge, traditions and spiritual wisdom of the Yanawaná tribe to the next generation and share it with the world.

b) Ensure that the next generation of Yawanawá are informed, enabled and equipped to be the guardians of the rainforest of the 21st century and build resilience against climate change.

c) Build a sustainable model of a village which is sovereign and has the capacity to keep the authenticity of their traditions including a food culture that is preserving the existence of native seeds, plants and biodiversity.

How?

The solutions we want to offer with this project and your funding:

1. Creating a School of Yawanawá traditions

We are collaborating on a specific project to strengthen and preserve the Yawanawá traditions and their sustainable lifestyles through creating a school of Yawanawá traditions.

The approach: Maintenance and deepening of Yawanawa spiritual practice

The school will follow a spiritual approach of the Yawanawá ancestry and their ability to be in balance with mother earth according to their spiritual practice.

Part of the wider project and knowledge transfer will be:

Preserving the Yawanawá language: The Yawanawá language is a key feature of their diversity and the depth of their ancestral culture. It has been the carrying medium of tribal wisdom for thousands of years and is how the knowledge about the local environment, the medicines of the jungle and how to live in balance with nature has been transmitted to future generations. The language however is endangered. Currently, the language is only spoken fluently by 20% of the Yawanawá. Hence, one key objective of the school is to help the elders that speak the language to pass it on to the next generation.

Reviving traditional cultural artifacts: The school also aims to pass on the knowledge about traditional artifacts such as clothing production and the traditional way of building houses.

Preserving regenerative agriculture and sustainable lifestyles: It aims to revive the knowledge of traditional sustainable agricultural practices and to support the recovery of the health of the soil through ancestral soil treatment, so that autonomous and healthy livelihoods can be rebuilt.

Creating awareness of their unique role in the world: Indigenous people hold a crucial role in safeguarding the biodiversity and health of the rainforest. It may come natural to the Yawanawá to do so but currently this happens without the awareness of the wider global good their actions carry. We want to raise awareness among the Yawanawá of the importance of keeping their traditional and sustainable ways of living.

Raising awareness of climate change and enabling skills of climate adaptation: Currently, there is no shared knowledge about climate change and the impacts on the villages and the livelihoods of the future generations of the Yawanawá. Hence, the school aims to create awareness for this subject and to enable a position of climate resilience by exploring and co-creating measures of climate adaptation.

The urgency:

Most of the elders that hold the traditional knowledge about the Yawanawá culture are aging and there is only a small time window to capture and transfer the knowledge. Hence, we see the Yawanawá School of highest priority.

2. Increasing their voice in front of politicians, businesses and the public.

Your funding will also support the Yawanawá to create a stronger political voice. The Yawanawá have been invited to the UN Climate Conference COP28 in Dubai this year. This is a great opportunity to raise their profile in front of politicians and the world but also an opportunity for them to learn about climate change and get access to political conversations. To be able to attend we will need to cover the travel costs of Yawanawá representatives and a small team of supporters and translators.

People behind this fundraiser:

Anatta Sensorium e.V., is an organization, a movement and a spiritual path. A community based on art and healing with the purpose of supporting ancient tradition and wisdom keepers of different indigenous nations. The family members of Anatta have recognised the harmony between self realization and service for the others. Through the pedagogy of ancient medicines and modern approach, they are transforming the energy of the conflict into the base of new agreements, improving and guarding communities and their harmonious development. Sustainability through ancestrality is the answer in terms of technology for that balance.

Supporter:

AYNI ALLIANCE is a non-for-profit organisation that has the mission to support the existence of indigenous communities and help them to create a stronger voice in front of decision makers of the West whilst also creating a platform for cultural exchange around sustainability issues.