Stories
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Calls on Brazil to Protect the Yanomami
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has called on Brazil to address the COVID-19 pandemic in the Yanomami Territory.
Video: The Shaman’s Message
- November 17, 2020
Yanomami shamans are warriors of the spirit world. They connect the visible and invisible worlds, acting as shields against the evil powers emanating from both humans and non-human beings that threaten the lives of their communities. Shamans dedicate themselves to taming the entities and forces that move the universe. They hold up the sky.
The most well-known Yanomami shaman and leader, Davi Kopenawa, is the author of the book “The Falling Sky – words of a Yanomami shaman” (Harvard University Press, 2013) with French anthropologist Bruce Albert. Inspired by his words and teaching, Ye’kwana Leadership Forum produced the film “The Shaman’s Message”, to bring the #MinersOutCovidOut campaign to the world.
The campaign calls for the immediate removal of illegal miners who are active in the Yanomami Territory, destroying the forest and rivers, bringing violence and now COVID-19 with them into the communities.
Listen to the shaman’s message. Help the Yanomami and other indigenous peoples hold up the sky. They protect the forest, biodiversity and climate stability. Without them, without the Amazon, and without Earth’s ecosystems protected, new pandemics will emerge, the climate crisis will deepen, and humanity will disappear. We’re already seeing the collapse happen in many parts of the world. What are we waiting for to finally hear the message of indigenous peoples? They won’t be able to hold up the sky – and postpone the end of the world – for much longer without our help.
Sign the petition: https://MinersOutCovidOut.org
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Credits for “The Shaman’s Message”
A production of the Yanomami and Ye’kwana Leadership Forum and the #MinersOutCovidOut Campaign
Concept: Bruno Weis & O.R.C.A.
Script & Art Direction: O.R.C.A.
Production: Mini Estudio
Director: Rodrigo Pimenta
Editing: Gustavo Ribeiro
Graphics: Pedro Santos
Image research: Isabela Mota
Original Soundtrack: Beto
Villares Narrated by: Dário Vitório Kopenawa
Music Production: Beto Villares & Erico Theobaldo Sound
Effects: Fil Pinheiro
Cello: Rafael Cesario
Mixing: Beto Villares
Executive production: Paula Tesser
Supervised by: Davi Kopenawa & Dário Vitório Kopenawa
Support: Instituto Socioambiental, Amazon Watch, Greenpeace Brasil, Rainforest Foundation US & Rainforest Foundation Norway
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