All Images: Bruna Brandão © Instituto Yube Inu.
In the first instalment of The Handprint Diaries, a series that follows the relationship between female communities around the world and their artisan crafts, Zazi Vintage founder Jeanne de Kroon takes us to Brazil to meet the Huni Kuin women and learn about their relationship with cotton production.
It was midday when I arrived at Boa Vista in Brazil. I remember sitting there for hours in the rain in a canoe, watching how the water rose, in awe of the forest and its humbling power. A few years ago, I had been lucky enough to meet Txana Ikakuru, the spiritual leader of an indigenous community called the Huni Kuin, whose name translates as the true people. After coming away inspired, I promptly reached out to an organisation that offered to take me on a journey to meet them. I travelled to the forest with Alessandro Isaka and Diana Yaka, two humans who have dedicated their lives to connecting the forest’s community with the rest of the world. They told me the history, how missionaries came and went, and how illegal logging has caused severe damage to the surroundings. But most of all it was a story of hope, about how the forest is now calling many people that want to catalyse change by working with the indigenous community on its protection.