San Francisco Psychedelic Society and Chacruna Institute Community Meeting Series on Psychedelics, Music, Integration, Policy and Culture
July 18th, 2019
6:30-9:30 pm
Women’s Building, 3543 18th St. #8, San Francisco
Tickets here
Documenting the Rise of Huni Kuin Culture in the Heart of the Amazon
Patrick Belem and Ninawa Pai da Mata
In this presentation, Patrick, along with Ninawa Pai da Mata, a medicine music man and spiritual leader of a Huni Kuin village, will be showing some photographs and some clips from the Eskawatã Kayawai documentary in progress. They will share their experiences of working with the Huni Kuin on the project in the Amazon forest. Within the three years since his first contact, Patrick has been to several villages deep in the forest; he will discuss his learning process there and how it affected his personal life and the film itself. Ninawá Pai da Mata, the main character of the film, will be sharing his views and songs and talking about his culture and music. There will be Huni Kuin jewelry, rapé, and other artifacts available for sale, which will directly fund the project. Also, we will be collecting donations to fund the rest of the project, which is being accomplished with collective fundraising.
About the Film: Eskawatã Kayawai Project
The Huni Kuin had a hard time living in their homeland; they were once forbidden to live their own culture and speak their own language. After many years living in slavery to white people, abusing alcohol, and being castrated by the church, they have awakened to return to their roots, rediscovering their ancestrors and remembering their culture, once forbidden and censored. This film is about a region where they stood up for themselves and changed their destinies forever, entering a new era: the time of indigenous rights. In this new era, the Huni Kuin again live in harmony with nature, bearing their sacred knowledge and sharing their healing culture around the world through the wisdom and spirituality of the forest. They also share their own cultural festivals, where they unite the indigenous with the non-indigenous, creating a great cultural apex. We hope this film can help other indigenous lands, and societies as a whole, to get back to their roots and be in harmony with themselves and planet Earth.
Ninawa Pai da Mata is a Spiritual Leader and Master Huni Kuin ‘Pajé’ Shaman from Novo Futuro village, which are located at Humaita region of Acre estate in the Brazilian Amazon.For the past 6 year’s he been organizing the Festival Huni Kuin Eskawatã Kayawai in his village with his community, and also implementing projects for bettering their way of living in his homeland in nowadays with his indigenous charity Instituto Socio-Cultural Huni Kuin, and he been dedicating his life since a decade on spreading the message, and spirituality of the forest and the Huni Kuin around the globe. He is a beautiful spirit that carries with him a long lineage and vast ancient wisdom of many thousands of years from his tribal Huni Kuin ancestors. Ninawa is a being of love and compassion and this is his second time visiting the USA, bringing messages of healing for the planet, his beautiful music, chants and teachings from the forest.
Patrick Belem is a free spirit, medicine musician, photographer, videographer, and journalist. His main work, besides creating and singing medicine music, is as a cinematographer. Patrick is the codirector, together with Lara Jacoski, of Bem-te-vi Produções, an initiative that focuses on producing multicultural content that seeks connect all people as one, making documentary films on social issues in India, Thailand, Morocco, Bolivia, Peru, and, for the past two years, focusing on indigenous themes in Brazil. Patrick has a spiritual path that started very young, as his family owns a Kardecist Spiritual Center. By the age of 15, he had tried many different spiritual paths to get to know himself, participating in Gurdjieff studies, the work of Trigueirinho, and Santo Daime, until he met the Huni Kuin and drank ayahuasca with them. Finding the place that reverberated within his heart, Patrick resonated with them, celebrating life while healing with joy, happiness, and a light heart. Patrick will launch his first album of medicine music in late 2019; in 2020, Patrick and Lara will launch their first feature film about the Huni Kuin culture and tradition.
www.bemteviproducoes.com.br
https://www.instagram.com/ptrckblm/
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