There was a multitude of indigenous art displayed on tables, on cloths, and trees. Among the extensive rows of handicrafts, songs and dances took place organically from the first day of Free Land Camp.

On the way towards the main tent, I met Maway Tapirapé. She was sitting on a wooden chair, in front of her cloth spread out on the floor. At her feet, gourds carved with graphism occupied the space on her cloth. I was curious about what was before me, I sat beside her and asked if she could tell me more about the gourds. We smile at each other, as if in common agreement.

Despite her willingness, Maway asked me to wait for her partner so that he could talk to me. The barrier of the language showed up.

When Awatori Edmilson approached, Maway called him out. He promptly turned his attention to my curiosities and switched places with his wife. Between conversations, Awatori was very interested in talking about what he brought on this trip.

"Now I'm going to talk a little about handicrafts, huh. This one we use. Yeah, drink rice porridge.. You can make it for the kids. Fish broth too. Mullet.. And let's eat with this here. Now, this here we call arapai. We use our painting here [graphism carved on the gourd]. What you see is all our paintings.”

When I asked about the dye and the graphism carved on the gourd, he explained that what I had in my hands was fish graphism. The dye inside was forest ink.

“This one is forest ink. We get the stick oil there too, right, to stick it, so the paint doesn't come out. We call it Ywypywynawa. In fact, we take its bark. Then we put water in and then we take the oil out of it. That one works like glue. It will only take half an hour. In half an hour it's done. Then we get some charcoal here, wood bark too. Our people call it Xanypatywonawa. I don't know how you call it in Portuguese. It is a tree that grows about 4 meters tall. It has green fruit. We burn it. So, first you have to apply the oil. Apply, apply, apply. Then we apply the paint to hold it.”

Awatori said that the most used tree to produce Tapirapé handicrafts is Pau Brasil. It is found abundantly and sought after by those who buy the handicrafts. And, according to him, the division of labor is based on the type of craft that will be produced. Women produce ornaments, such as earrings and necklaces, paintings and also produce gourds, for example. Men are in charge of making bordunas, oars, feather headdresses.

Coming from the municipality of Confresa in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, they traveled over a thousand kilometers to join the largest national manifestation advocating for Indigenous Peoples' Rights in Brazil. That was the second time that they’ve been there.

“For myself… It's important, right… Finding relatives, meeting relatives. Also get to know the work of relatives. The handicraft. Getting to know them, because for me, it's very important to get to know the relatives I've never seen. Talk to a relative and ask about their culture as well. So that's really good for me.” (Awatori Edmilson Tapirapé)

At the end of our conversation, Awatori sang one of his people's chants.

Words by: Andressa Domingues
Photography: Andressa Domingues, Raíssa Azeredo