Virtual reality experience

There are hundreds of indigenous peoples – some of them have not yet been contacted – spread across eight countries, in a territory composed by the Amazon biome. Currently, these peoples struggle daily to preserve their different indigenous languages, cultures, and especially their cosmogony, which is a set of theories explaining the origin of the Universe. Such conceptions help to understand the relationships between the indigenous people and the forest. Their knowledge is registered orally, through drawings, or records inscribed in stone or paper, thus we understand why specific living beings are so important to them.

For example, in the Yanomami cosmogony, the sounds of animals are vital in showing their behavior. Birds are mothers of nature and when they tweet, it can mean something good or bad. Even silence matters, because when a tree falls spontaneously or a close relative dies, the forest feels their loss and mourns. They stay inside their homes when there is a storm, because the spirits are walking around and could be angry, and you must respect them.

“Satellites cannot see the spirits of the forest,” said Davi Kopenawa, the Yanomami shaman and leader.

In this video you will see the everyday indigenous activities so you can understand their vision of nature. This relationship built thousands of years ago varies according to each community, but the connection to the environment is common to all of them. Nature is an integral part of their lives. A simple animal has a totally different meaning in the Amazon from what we are used to. The wind, the trees, the sounds… everything is connected. The standing forest supplies nutrients and is a place of harmony.

This game is inspired by reports from Floriza Yanomami leader and produced in partnership with the MAGIC school.