The Huni Kuî people, or “true people”, as they call themselves, mostly inhabit the Acre lands in the tropical Amazon, but their lands extend to the foothills of the Andes in eastern Peru. In the state of Acre, the Huni Kuin are the largest indigenous population, currently living in twelve lands along seven different rivers: Purus, Envira, Murú, Humaitá, Tarauacá, Breu and Jordão.

They had a relatively late contact with the western world, and even after decades of persecution in the era of the rubber tree, they managed to keep the tradition alive. They speak in hatxa kuin (“true language”) and live in a bilingual reality, where in most villages they also communicate in Portuguese. And even with this influence, they continue to practice sacred rituals and shamanism with their traditional medicine, carry out children's baptisms and celebrate the vegetable festivals (“katxanawa”). The traditional medicines of the Huni Kuin people are of immense importance to their worldview, with the collective use of ayahuasca (“Nixi Pae”) prominent in their spiritual practice.

 

Currently, the spirituality of this people echoes throughout the four corners of the world. A movement that began just over a decade ago with the arrival in Rio de Janeiro of young leaders to hold ceremonies outside the villages, today has several tours by Huni Kuin spiritual leaders across the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. There were also countless exhibitions about this rich culture in some of the main museums in the world, as well as the realization of award-winning films and books. These forest messengers have an important and positive message that points to a new time, a time of reconciliation between men and between them and Mother Nature.