THE KATUKINA PEOPLE (NOKE KOI)
The Katukina (Noke Koi) people have their territory in the state of Acre in Brazil. His first contact with Western society was at the end of the 19th century, when migrants traveled through the Amazon basin in search of rubber trees. Since then, they have been in constant contact, first helping rubber tappers and chiefs as guides, hunters and rubber producers. After contact, living conditions were never the same; first comes the epidemics that killed approximately 2/3 of its population. Currently, the Katukina indigenous land is contiguous to the regional territories where monoculture and animal breeding predominate. In the last decades, everyone complains about the absence of game animals and fish, substantial not only in the indigenous diet but in the forest's ecosystem.
The recent success of neighboring peoples in obtaining resources from NGO projects has sparked leaders' interest in doing something similar and thus promoting the entry of resources into their lands through “culture”. This project emerged as a spontaneous collaboration between us and Noke Koi, for the foundation of an association.
Projeto Legado Musical Varinawa
2020
Abril
Projeto: O Legado musical Varinawa
Colaboradores: Associação Sociocultural Varinawa & AMAPACHA
Conclusão: Agosto 2020
"We have made progress and with the Association we are looking for ways to revitalize our culture and transmit the knowledge of our ancestors to the new generation" Metsá Varinawa .
The material was produced between September and November 2018 and June 2019, in order to promote documentation of the various forms of musical expression in Katukina culture. Due to the fact that music is present in various contexts and is charged with the values of its people, we can say that from music we can know how the other relates to life.
This material intends at the same time to disseminate the genuine indigenous cultures and to generate necessary funds for the continuity of the work with the Katukina people. There are more than four hours of recordings that include "sung prayers", traditional healing songs and festive songs.
Engage yourself and benefit from this mission
ASSOCIAÇAO SOCIOCULTURAL VARINAWA
2018
Project completed!
Our collaboration with the Katukina people for the foundation of the association began in August 2018, when I arrived in the village of Varinawa asking about the possibilities of conducting anthropological research. We met directly in one of the houses where three local leaders started to discuss this issue in their own language. One of them then said: “Some people have already come here to conduct their research and, in the end, left the village without speaking to us anymore. In your case, the situation will be different: we will help you in your research if you help us to create our association. We want to bring foreigners here and share our knowledge about ayahuasca and tobacco and medicines from the forest ".
We are a family owned and operated business.
Until the first days of December 2018 we progressed in our collaboration and also in friendship. Living in the village, we met every day. At night everyone talked about noke vana for many hours and the words in Portuguese like "project", "association", "status" and "txai Virgilio" would appear in a few sentences. We had meetings in which the Portuguese-speaking leaders translated all my explanations (what an association is, what procedures are necessary to create one, election of the management team, etc.). They also introduced me to the main topics raised by members of the village.
It was in this context that we drafted the statute of the Sociocultural Association Varinawa. In October 2018, the Association documents were ready. We then obtained support from the CASA Foundation, which helped us make the construction of the Varinawa Traditional Culture Center feasible, in operation since July 2019.