Support the Huni Kuin people of the headwaters of Jordão river in the Brazilian Amazon

The Aru Benawa Project

The Aru Benawa Project aims to benefit and reduce serious issues faced by the 3 most remote Huni Kuin villages of the Jordão river, located deep in the Amazon Rainforest – Brazil.

The communities are in need of urgent support to solve its infrastructure problems, issues that are not only human basic needs but are also being faced inside the world’s biggest forest: lack of access to energy and clean drinking water, a ceremonial center to pass on their ancestral knowledge, a boat for transportation in Amazonian rivers, along other small demands that can no longer wait to be solved.

The Huni Kuin people

The Huni Kuin people have about 13 thousand people and keep a rich and complex culture in the middle of the Brazilian Amazon. They traditionally use different plants, prayers, sacred music to perform healing and truly connect with nature.

The Huni Kuin people are true wisdom keepers, guardians not only of sacred ancient knowledge but also of the entire Amazon forest.

Alliances

In this rare opportunity, two really respected leaders of the Huni Kuin people – Txana Ixã Sabino and Isaka Mateus – will be traveling through Europe from August to October 2022.

Ixã and Isaka are looking for alliances, supporters and partnerships with those who understand the urgency of protecting Amazonian indigenous communities. They hope to be heard, share their history, culture, ceremonies and struggle for the preservation of their land.

Txana Ixã Sabino

Txana Ixã Sabino is the spiritual leader of Aru Benawa (Novo Segredo) village, and one of the most respected living spiritual leaders of the Huni Kuin people.

Sabino is a great connoisseur of the mysteries of Nixi Pae (Ayahuasca) and the medicinal plants. He lives in one of the most remote Huni Kuin villages, located on the headwaters of Jordão river. The most isolated region inhabited by the Huni Kuin people. The village still has its original language as its first language and preserves many ancestral traditions of its culture.

Txana Ixã carries ancient wisdom and a big healing potential. In the words of the Huni Kuin themselves, he is a “living library”, a guardian of the culture and knowledge of his people. He wants to build a learning center in his village to pass on this knowledge and receive people from all over the globe.

Isaka Mateus Huni Kuin

Isaka Mateus Huni Kuin, lives in São Joaquim village – Jordão River. Isaka is the son and apprentice of the legendary Pajé Ikamuru. Ikamuru, with the help of his son Isaka, was responsible for creating the Huni Kuin Healing Book (UNA ISĨ KAYAWA), an extremely important book that cataloged and described dozens of medicinal plants from the forest, traditionally used by the Huni Kuin.

Isaka is a pioneer among his people in the distillation of rare essential oils from the forest and prepares other very precious aromatic medicines. Wherever he goes, we can smell the scent that comes from the forest, which deeply marks our experience.

It is also one of the leaders responsible for improving the living conditions of his people, through food security, infrastructure and territorial management projects.

The Huni Kuin traditional ceremonies

The Huni Kuin traditional ceremonies are unique opportunities to connect with ancient wisdom and experience a transformative journey, in this case, with an elder who carries the highest level of science and healing knowledge of the Amazon.

The Huni Kuin traditional healing chants are a profound mystery of the Amazon. Together with the forest medicines, it has a very powerful therapeutic potential and helps us achieve an integral healing of the body, mind and spirit.

We are happy to share and schedule Huni Kuin traditional ceremonies with Isaka and Sabino, so the world can understand and deeply feel the true value of indigenous wisdom.