Yawanawa

There are approximately 1200 Yawanawa living in the Brazilian state of Acre, in villages along the banks of the Gregório river, where they have made their homes since time immemorial.

The Yawanawa people’s first contact with the non-indigenous world happened around the 19th century. It was an intense period of much conflict with the rubber barons and missionaries who invaded their lands and tried to forbid Yawanawa language, culture and spirituality. In the 1980s, chief Biraci Nixiwaka Brazil led his people in the fight for the recognition of their native territories, and the Yawanawa became the first indigenous people to obtain the official rights to their lands in the state of Acre.

The Yawanawa have since then reclaimed their sacred medicines, rituals, song and dance, festivals, games, traditional body painting and adornment, artwork and food, in a profound journey of cultural revival.

Chief Nixiwaka is one of the most relevant indigenous leaders of our time. He has dedicated his life to reclaiming his people’s ancient culture and spirituality. After reconquering the rights over their ancestral territory, Nixiwaka, alongside his family, led the opening of their culture to the outside world. Its main element is the Yawa Festival, which is held annually since 2002 in the village of Nova Esperança (“New Hope”). In the past years he has spent most of his time in the Sacred Village, dedicated to spirituality and healing, receiving teachings from the elders, in order to carry on the Yawanawa legacy. In his few journeys out of his village to represent his people, he’s also visited other spiritual leaders around the world and has partaken in the sharing of many cultural traditions.

Peu is one of the most devoted spiritual leaders from the younger generation of the Yawanawa people. He committed to the sacred “samakei” (diet), the Yawanawa’s highest spiritual initiation, for five consecutive years. In this period he received direct teachings from the elders Tata and Yawa, who have recently passed away. His studies with the elders brought exceptional  strength to his work with the sacred healing prayers of his ancestry. Today Peu is responsible for preparing and serving the medicines in the Sacred Village. He is also a talented musician, as has traveled to Europe, North America and Asia sharing Yawanawa spirituality.