Kuarup Celebration in the Xingu Indigenous Territory

More than 3,000 people from different indigenous communities gathered in the Yawalapiti village, the heart of the Xingu Indigenous Territory (TIX), to celebrate the Kuarup on September 11-12, 2021.

The Kuarup is a ceremony bringing together all the communities of the High-Xingu to commemorate those who died during the year. This ancestral and sacred ceremony celebrates the memory of the dead. It marks the end of the period of mourning by freeing their souls and guiding them to the spiritual world. On this occasion, dances, songs and ritual fights take place between the various tribes.

The Kuarup 2021 celebrated the memory of the great cacique Aritana Yawalapiti and three members of his close family who died of Covid-19. The cacique Tapi Yawalapiti, the son of the late chief Aritana, was officially appointed as his successor and leader of the Xingu Indigenous Territory tribes.

AFV also met Raoni, who sent a message of encouragement to our organization to continue its work in favor of the indigenous peoples of Xingu.

Chief Raoni Metuktire has recently been awarded with the honorary membership of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in September 2021. His tireless fight for the protection of the rainforest had already been distinguished in 2011 when the city of Paris gave him honorary citizenship.