THE YAWANAWA MODEL OF SUSTAINABILITY

The Yawanawa tribe (wild boar people) is the guardian of an ecologic sanctuary of over 20,000 sq km, 98% of which is wild forest located deep in the heart of the amazon jungle. It is settled in a region of the state of Acre extremely rich in bio-diversity. Their forefathers, who lived in perfect harmony with nature, held the knowledge to the 

forest´s healing plants. Also, their spiritual endowment is outstanding.

The Yawanawa community is currently led by Tashka and Laura Yawanawa. Tashka Yawanawa had served as Chief of the Yananawa since 2001.

In just a few years, Tashka and his wife Laura have worked to increase Yawanawa territory, reinvigorate Yawanawa culture, and establish economically and socially empowering relationships with the outside world.

The Yawanawa community and their allies are developing a new model of sustainability that allows the Yawanawa to protect the rainforest and engage with the outside world on their own terms, without losing their cultural and spiritual identity.

The tribe is divided in seven villages the largest of which, Nova Esperança (New Hope) holds an annual festival so as to celebrate, meditate over and rescue an invaluable historic and cultural heritage handed down by many generations way long before discoverers reached the Americas. Non-indigenous visitors are welcome to share their wisdom and participate in the festivities.

 PHOTOS

THE YAWANAWA PROJECT

DO´S AND DONT´S DURING FESTIVAL

Tourist Region	Jurua-Acre Valley - Brasil
Municipalities and districts encompassed by the tour	Rio Branco, Tarauaca and/or Cruzeiro do Sul, Vila Sao Vicente.
Duration of festivities	6 days and 5 nights
Modes of transportation	Air, land, river (canoe)
Beginning and end of trip under responsibility of Yawanawa Production team	Sao Vicente village, at the margin of   Gregorio River
Time lapse on land: Rio Branco/Sao Vicente Cruzeiro do Sul/Sao Vicente Tarauaca/São Vicente	6 hours 3 hours 1 hour
Time lapse in water (canoe): Sao Vicente/Aldeia	7 hours
When	From October 25th through the 30th
Reservations I	At least 30 days prior to the event
Package cost (values from 2012)	Foreigners: R$2.500,00 Brazilians: R$2.000,00
Reservations II	coopyawa@hotmail.com Phone #s:(68) 9941-7836 (speak to Shaneihu) (68) 3469-1000 (village) – speak to Biraci Nixiwaka

CONTEMPORARY ART IN A BOTANICAL GARDEN?

The Centro de Arte Contemporânea Inhotim is a museum and contemporary art museum located in Brumadinho in southeast Brazil, founded by former mining magnate Bernardo Paz.


Beginning in the 1980s, Paz converted a 3,000-acre ranch into a sprawling botanical garden designed by the late landscape artist Roberto Burle Marx, a friend of Paz′s. Inhotim, now at 5,000 acres, is vast enough to require 1,000 employees. The garden, which boasts two dozen art “pavilions”, opened to the public in 2006. In 2011, it attracted nearly 250,000 visitors from all over the world.



The pavilions include more than 500 works by noted Brazilian and international artists, such as Hélio Oiticica, Yayoi Kusama, Anish Kapoor, Thomas Hirschhorn, Matthew Barney, Doug Aitken, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Steve McQueen, Cildo Meireles and Vik Muniz. One pavilion is devoted to one of Paz′s ex-wives, the Brazilian artist Adriana Varejão.Paz has plans to expand Inhotim with 10 or more new hotels, an 15,000-capacity amphitheater, and even a complex of “lofts” for those who want to live amid the collection.



https://vimeo.com/79258788


Source: WIKIPEDIA, INHOTIM´S OFFICIAL PAGE

80 DAYS ON MULEBACK? NO WAY!

Yes! That is what a group of mule riders has been doing for the last month - crossing part of Brazil to fulfill an old dream of theirs.  
Why mules? Because a mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse, and the mule possesses the even temper, patience, endurance and sure-footedness of the donkey, and the vigor, strength and courage of the horse.
The adventurers will travel almost 3,500 miles and spend three months away from home. The ride began one month ago in the municipality of  Espera Feliz (Happy Wait) in Minas Gerais and the adventure will only end in Passo Fundo, in the gaucho state. 

The routine begins with a prayer and soon everybody is on horseback for another day's journey. The ride takes an average of 40 km/day, and at that pace they are supposed to cross six states in 80 days. They should reach their final destination in the first half of May. The group is made ​​up of 20 riders, mostly traders, farmers and retirees from the states of  Espirito Santo and Minas Gerais, who invested in the project of  reviving long gone muleteer times. "Our objective is to unwind and get to know new families of horseriders", says one of the participants. 

The trip was planned over a year, and everything is happening as anticipated. Difficulties were also included along the journey - leaving family and jobs behind. The second obstacle was the  knock-down heat in Rio de Janeiro. The third one is the cold south. In short, they chose to tread the path of ancient drovers. And it pays!

WANNA JOIN US ON A COWDOG TRIAL?

A herding dog, also known as a stock dog or working dog, is a type of pastoral dog that either has been trained in herding or belongs to breeds developed for herding. Their ability to be trained to act on the sound of a whistle or word of command is renowned throughout the world.

All herding behavior is modified predatory behavior. Through selective breeding, humans have been able to minimize the dog's natural inclination to treat cattle and sheep as prey while simultaneously maintaining the dog's hunting skills, thereby creating an effective herding dog. 

In Australia, New Zealand and the United States herding dogs are known as working dogs irrespective of their breeding. Some herding breeds work well with any kind of animals; others have been bred for generations to work with specific kinds of animals and have developed physical characteristics or styles of working that enhance their ability to handle these animals. Commonly mustered animals include cattle, sheep, goats and reindeer, although it is not unusual for poultry to be handled by dogs.

In Brazil the Brazilian Border Collie Association (ABBC) has been developing working dogs for herding cattle since 2005, having as its members the Association from the state of Rio Grande do Sul (AGBC – Associaçao Gaucha de Criadores de Border Collie) and the Association from the state of Sao Paulo (APPas – Associação Paulista de Pastoreio).

In January 2006 the ABBC was approved by the ISDS (International Sheep Dog Society), the worldwide recognized sheep dog entity.

The video below shows the first trial for the year 2013 in Pirajui, a town 400 km inland from Sao Paulo city.

Jefferson Munhoz, the first Brazilian to compete at the World Trials, is dressed head to toe in traditional gaucho gear accompanied by his dog, Guapo

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2038300/World-Sheep-Dog-Trials-TV--speedometers-collies.html#ixzz2QCKY3mxo 
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              NEXT TRIALS

Sources: WIKIPEDIA, Brazilian Gaucho Sheep Dog, Herding Dogs, World Sheep Dog Trials, Canil Boiadeiro