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