“Tembe warriors in Brazil wear colourful headdresses of macaw and other feathers, and wield bow and arrows to hunt and protect their homeland, which is constantly under threat in the globally vital Amazon region. Like their ancestors, the Tembe plant trees to teach their children the value of preserving the world’s largest rainforest, which is a critical bulwark against global warming.” R. Rodrigo, The Guardian
Tembe warriors -Photos- Rodrigo Abd:AP
Excerpt: Daily Life of Amazonian Tembe tribes, Rodrigo, NPR
“Lorival Tembe, the eldest chieftain and a founder of Tekohaw, poses for a portrait during the meeting in the Tekohaw village. ‘The Amazon is ending and that’s why we’re here — so that it doesn’t end,’ he said.’
Lorival Tembe–Photos- Rodrigo Abd:AP
Women and children congregate around a broken public telephone after a gathering of Tembe tribe members in the Tekohaw village, in Para state, Brazil.
Tembe tribe members
Tawa Chirando, 17, poses for a portrait. Tembe hunt with bows and arrows, fish for piranhas and gather wild plants, while some watch soap operas on television or check the internet on phones inside thatch-roof huts.
Tawa Chirando
Sandra Tembe, 46, poses for a portrait. She is the director of the school at Tekohaw village, where the walls are adorned with paintings of indigenous maracas and Amazonian animals such as piranhas and snakes. ‘The body paintings are a symbol of our link to nature,’ she said.
Sandra Tembe-Photos- Rodrigo Abd:AP
Siblings and cousins gather in the village of Ka ‘a kyr around a mobile phone on a purple hammock to watch a children’s cartoon on YouTube at the home of Gleison Tembe.
Siblings and cousins gather to watch cartoons on a mobile phone. — Photos- Rodrigo Abd:AP
Cajueiro chieftain Sergio Muxi Tembe waits for the tank of his motorcycle to be filled in Para state. ‘We know Bolsonaro doesn’t like Indians. He’s anti-Indian,’ said the chief, wearing a headdress of macaw and other feathers and a traditional bone bracelet on his wrist next to a Casio digital watch. ‘We have a different culture and that culture must be respected.’
Cajueiro chieftain Sergio Muxi Tembe Photos- Rodrigo Abd:AP
Villagers watch a soap opera on television in their home in the village Tekohaw. Daily life in the remote Tembe indigenous villages in the Amazon jungle of Brazil mixes tradition and modernity.”
Villagers watch a soap opera…Photograph- Rodrigo Abd:AP
