In this very special edition of Where the Leaves Fall we invited Indigenous activist Txai Suruí, of the Paiter Suruí people, to guest edit the entirety of issue #12 - for which she chose the themes of: Cosmology / Indigenous Art / Resistance.
TO DREAM THE FOREST
In our first theme of this issue, Hanna Limulja reflects on the tree of dreams and the significance of dreaming for Yanomami people; Yanomami shaman Davi Kopenawa speaks to us about the xapiri spirits, the healthy forest, the earth eaters and the future we need to avoid; and in a rare interview with ex-shaman Perpera Suruí, he reveals how colonisation triggered a loss of spirituality and affected the whole worldview of the Paiter Suruí – their connection with the spirits of the forest and with the forest itself.
OF IMAGES AND STORIES
In our second theme, we feature Abel Rodríguez / Mogaje Guihu, a sage of the Nonuya people who started documenting his knowledge through drawings, seeking to transmit his cosmovision - not only about the forest, but also about the human condition; Indigenous artist Seba Calfuqueo, whose work explores ancestry, identity and how binaries introduced through colonisation are still limiting the human and non-human world; and Uýra Sodoma, a manifestation of the biologist, ecologist, visual artist and educator Emerson Pontes, tells stories to and for their community via the emotion of the imagination, made possible through art.
OF STRUGGLE AND RESISTANCE
In our final theme, Activist Samela Sateré Mawé shows how Indigenous youth are taking control of their own narrative; Edgar Kanaykõ Xakriabá’s photography explores the Indigenous gaze as an instrument of struggle and resistance; Fabrícia Sabanê discusses how the organisation AGIR works alongside Indigenous women to help them organise, protect their territories and cultures and fight for political action; and how activists are fighting back in the Xingu Indigenous Territory against deforestation and destruction.
POETRY AND ARTWORKS
The magazine also includes poetry and artworks from Yacunã Tuxá and collages from Mavi Morais.
