KAMAYURÁ
More than 25 years of shared life, partnership, and collaborative work
Who Are the Kamayurá people
The Kamayurá are an Indigenous people who live in the Upper Xingu region, within the Xingu Indigenous Territory, in the northern part of the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. They speak Kamayurá, a language belonging to the Tupi-Guarani language family, and maintain a profound relationship with their territory, ancestral knowledge, and cultural practices. They are part of the Upper Xingu cultural complex, where different peoples, despite speaking distinct languages, share rituals, forms of exchange, and ways of life while preserving their own identities. Their cultural expressions include Kwaryp, Jawari, songs, dances, and Huka-huka wrestling.
According to 2020 data from Siasi/Sesai, recorded by the Socioenvironmental Institute (ISA), the Kamayurá population was 710 people. To learn more about their history, culture, and territory, see the ISA page Kamayurá – Povos Indígenas no Brasil.
A relationship of shared life and struggle
Andreia Duarte's relationship with the Kamayurá people began in 2001. For five years, between 2001 and 2005, Andreia lived in the village, sharing the community's everyday life. It was a profound experience of living together: taking part in rituals, singing, dancing, swimming in the lagoon, following the rhythms of village life, learning from the elders, and being present through the joys, challenges, and struggles of the community.
It was not simply a matter of developing projects or carrying out professional work, but of living together, building relationships of friendship and trust, and standing alongside the community in its struggle for its rights, projects, and ways of life.
It was in this context that initiatives were developed in the areas of education, community organization, agriculture, culture, research, and institutional engagement. This work was built together with leaders, masters, teachers, young people, and families, based on the needs, knowledge, and decisions of the Kamayurá themselves.
More than 25 years later, this relationship remains alive. The projects that have been carried out are part of a larger history shaped by shared life, commitment, mutual learning, and collective construction. Andreia's experience with the Kamayurá occupies a fundamental place in her personal and professional trajectory.
1. Education and Learning in the Village
Mawaiaká School
Between 2001 and 2005, Andreia founded the Mawaiaká School in partnership with the Kamayurá community. The school began beneath a pequi tree as a space for gathering and learning, inspired by the thought of Paulo Freire and by the development of an education rooted in life, territory, and the people's own knowledge.
Together with Takumã Kamayurá, a leader and shaman, Andreia developed the school's Political-Pedagogical Project, creating an educational approach that brought traditional knowledge into dialogue with formal education. The project understood education in a broad sense, taking into account territory, culture, language, ways of life, and the community's own forms of transmitting knowledge.
As the project continued, the community built a traditional house to accommodate the school. Activities in literacy, mathematics, Portuguese, and science took place there, alongside classes in singing, dancing, handicrafts, and painting. The school was conceived as a space integrated into community life, where learning also meant strengthening knowledge and cultural practices while addressing challenges related to the territory.
Andreia taught students of different age groups and supported the training of educators from the village itself. She also participated in the school's institutional structuring and formalization with the relevant authorities and served as its coordinator for five years.
The experience of the Mawaiaká School gave rise to Andreia's monograph on the practical feasibility of an Indigenous school developed in dialogue with the community.
2. Community Organization and Institutional Strengthening
Mawutsinin Indigenous Association
Between 2001 and 2005, Andreia collaborated with the Mawutsinin Indigenous Association on processes of organizational and institutional strengthening. Her work included support for its formalization, the establishment of a headquarters in the village, strategic planning, document organization, and project development.
The association played a fundamental role in coordinating and implementing various initiatives developed with the community. It was through the association that projects could be structured, presented to institutions, and made possible. Andreia also contributed to the organization of a community collection of books, articles, and photographs; to cultural exchanges with other Indigenous peoples, such as the Wauja; and to initiatives related to the production and sale of handicrafts.
The association became an important instrument for collective organization, autonomy, and the Kamayurá people's capacity for advocacy and engagement.
3. Agriculture, Food, and Territorial Development
Awa Wojamena Ko – A Roça dos Jovens (2002–2004)
Developed with Kamayurá youth, the project focused on agriculture, cultivating the land, and food production, valuing traditional knowledge and the transmission of knowledge between generations. The initiative sought to strengthen young people's participation in agricultural practices and their relationship with the territory.
The project was sponsored by Petrobras and supported by FUNAI and the Mato Grosso State Department of Education (SEDUC-MT).
Responsible Tourism in Kamayurá Territory (2005–2012)
Andreia developed a responsible tourism project based on the Kamayurá people's own reflections and interests concerning the presence of visitors in their territory. The proposal considered forms of territorial and cultural protection, limits on visitation, and the conditions necessary for the activity to respect community decisions, ways of life, and autonomy.
The work sought to consider tourism not only as an economic activity, but also from the perspective of the Kamayurá people's knowledge, concerns, and perspectives.
CASA Project – Development of the Kamayurá Guest House (2012)
The CASA Project supported the development of a guest house for the Kamayurá, helping provide accommodation and welcoming conditions during their travel and activities outside their territory.
4. Research, Memory, and Publications
Living and working alongside the Kamayurá people gave rise to various research projects, records, and publications. On the one hand, books built from knowledge shared by the Kamayurá and dedicated to the memory and transmission of their culture; on the other, academic research authored by Andreia and developed from her experience in the village and her artistic and intellectual trajectory.
Kamayurá Memory, Culture, and Publications
Moroneta Kamayura – Histórias Kamayura (2014)
Publication research and organization bringing together 84 mythologies and narratives from the Kamayurá oral tradition, shared by masters and shamans Tacumã Kamayurá and Kanutary Kamayurá. The work was developed through dialogue with the holders of this knowledge and the recording of narratives fundamental to the memory, culture, and transmission of Kamayurá knowledge.
The publication received support from FUNAI and was produced by Literaterras, a publishing house of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG).
Kwaryp Kamayurá Porerekwaim – A Cultura do Kwaryp Kamayurá (2013–2016)
Research developed in partnership with the Mawutsinin Indigenous Association, dedicated to recording and documenting knowledge related to Kwaryp, one of the most important rituals of the Kamayurá people. The work brought together materials and knowledge shared by the community and received support from the Socioenvironmental Institute (ISA).
The book was organized based on this research and is awaiting publication.
Academic Research
Monograph – "Viabilidade prática da escola dos Kamayurá: um estudo de caso da Escola Mawaiaká" (2004–2008)
Research conducted at the Faculty of Languages of the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), based on the experience of creating and supporting the Mawaiaká School. The study investigated the possibilities and challenges of an Indigenous school education proposal developed in dialogue with the community, taking into account its knowledge, organizational practices, and relationship with the territory.
Master's Dissertation – "O instante da cena do índio: a expressão poética de uma experiência"(2013–2015)
Research conducted within the Graduate Program in Arts at the School of Fine Arts of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). Drawing on her experience as an actress and her life alongside the Kamayurá, Andreia investigated Indigenous presence on stage and the relationships between experience, the body, and poetic expression.
5. Cultural Projects, Documentation, and Exchanges
The relationship with the Kamayurá also developed into projects involving documentation, exchange, and engagement with cultural and artistic initiatives, establishing dialogues with different institutions and professionals.
"Jogos e Brincadeiras Indígenas" (2003)
Consultancy for a project developed by Origem Ltda., dedicated to games and play among Indigenous peoples.
Gênesis project– Amazonas Imagens (2005)
Participation in the coordination of Projeto Gênesis, carried out by Amazonas Imagens, with photography by Sebastião Salgado and artistic direction by Lélia Wanick. Andreia acted as an intermediary with the Kamayurá village and helped facilitate the project with the Kamayurá, Wauja, and Kuikuro peoples, establishing dialogue with the communities and contributing to the project's implementation in their territories.
"Sítio de Imaginação" (2008)
Consultancy for a project developed by the Belo Horizonte-based production company Ciclope in the Kamayurá village, contributing to its coordination and implementation with the community.
Kamayurá Website (2008)
Participation in the creation and organization of the website www.kamayura.org.br, an initiative dedicated to documenting and disseminating information about the Kamayurá people.
6. Community Support and Mobilization
Kamayurá – Covid Campaign (2020)
Coordination and production of a support campaign for the Kamayurá people during the Covid-19 pandemic, carried out together with Chief Kotok Kamayurá. The initiative mobilized resources and solidarity to support the community during a period of significant vulnerability.
7. Art, Creation, and Contemporary Collaboration
The relationship with the Kamayurá people continues to generate new possibilities for creation, research, and exchange. In more recent projects, this trajectory has developed through partnerships with artists, institutions, and cultural organizations, maintaining dialogue with the community's knowledge and practices.
Breath of the Forest (Sopro da Floresta) – Um Concerto Cênico-Musical (2025–2027)
A project developed in partnership by A Outra Margem, Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, Duda Paiva Company, and the Kamayurá people. The work establishes a dialogue between music, object theatre, and Indigenous knowledge, bringing together different artistic languages and ways of relating to the forest.
Andreia contributes to the dramaturgy, provides consultancy on Indigenous peoples, and serves as co-producer of the project, in collaboration with its artistic partners and the community.
Strengthening the Traditional Knowledge of the Kamayurá People (2027)
A project coordinated by A Outra Margem in partnership with the Kamayurá people, focused on valuing, documenting, and transmitting traditional knowledge. The initiative brings together different areas of work, including the Yamurikumã music project, the Jakuí flutes, the republication of Moroneta Kamayura – Histórias Kamayura, and the publication of Kwaryp Kamayurá Porerekwaim – A Cultura do Kwaryp Kamayurá.
The project continues research, documentation, and publications developed over many years, creating new conditions for the circulation and transmission of cultural knowledge and practices, with the participation and leadership of the community itself.
A Continuing Partnership
This trajectory cannot be understood simply as a sequence of projects. It emerged from five years of living in the village and from a relationship that profoundly transformed the way Andreia understands education, culture, artistic creation, and the relationships between different forms of knowledge.
Over more than 25 years, this partnership has accompanied changes, faced challenges, and found new forms of continuity. The initiatives that have been carried out are part of a collective process developed with leaders, masters, teachers, young people, and families, in which the knowledge, decisions, and leadership of the Kamayurá people remain central.
Today, this relationship continues to inform A Outra Margem's work through projects that bring together art, research, memory, and traditional knowledge. More than preserving a history, it is about keeping alive a commitment built through shared life, trust, and collective struggle.
