Monks and Shamans Online Festival for the Amazon facing Covid-19 August 28 and 29, 2020

The five indigenous guests from Brazil, Peru and Colombia participating in this virtual meeting are representatives of Amazonian communities from three countries who are suffering the harsh consequences of the presence of Covid-19 in their territories.

The absence of the State, illegal deforestation, the extraction of minerals and the invasion of their territories are the main causes of the spread of the disease among these peoples. High level of contamination, loss of ancient loremasters and forced economic isolation affects the entire region.

But, at the same time, faith in their spirituality and traditional medicines sustain indigenous resistance.

The testimonies presented here have a lot to teach us and it is a learning on several dimensions.

1.Biraci Nixiwaka of the Yawanawo people was, during the 80s, one of the main indigenous political leaders in Brazil. Today, his commitment is reflected in the return to the spirituality of his people. Together with his wife, Nene Putany, they are a benchmark for indigenous cultural and spiritual fortification in Brazil.

2.Imika Tariru is a dancer, ancestral physician and spiritual guide from the Tubu Hummurimaso nation of Colombia. Born in the community of the Amazonian river Apaporis, today he is dedicated to transmitting the values ​​of his culture in the urban environment of Bogota.

3.Panshin Nima is an Onaya healer from the Shipibo people of the Peruvian Amazon. Through his career and his vocation, he was appointed president of the association of ancestral doctors of the Shipibo-Conibo People and therefore represents more than 100 practitioners and bearers of this deep tradition of medicine from the spirits of the plants of the forest.

4.Luiz Puwe is a young healer from the Puyanawa people of Acre State in the Brazilian Amazon. The Puyanawa are globally respected for the importance of recovering cultural and spiritual traditions.

5.Daiara Tukano, from the Yepo Mahsr people of the upper Rio Negro in Brazil is a human rights researcher, artist and activist for the rights of indigenous peoples. Committed to strengthening the culture of her people for new generations, she studies traditional knowledge with her clan Eremiri Hгusiro Parameri.

Festival press release.