Photo: Txima Kaxinawá, Huni Kuin ethnicity in the Brazilian Amazon, Arco-Iris community (Source: Portella, 2024).

Our project is named MAE MEKEA by Txima Kaxinawá, an Indigenous woman leader from the Huni Kuin ethnicity in the Brazilian Amazon. In the Huni Kuin language, MAEMEKEA means “take care of the planet.” Our project logo is inspired by the following ancestral story told by Txima and was drawn by Txana Itsa (her brother), from the same ethnicity, located in the Indigenous Arco-Iris community in the Brazilian Amazon:

“We have a story about a very mysterious and sacred bird, the owner of the climate, that warns the Huni Kuin people when cold weather and summer are approaching. This bird is called Shētsi ika. Shētsi ika is a nocturnal bird that we rarely see, but it alerts us to the changing seasons. It has a very unique song, but we can’t take pictures of it because it only flies at night. It is very mysterious. With its song, we know that cold weather is coming, and we still experience this today. Before the cold weather arrives, we hear the bird singing at night, warning the people. Our people call this Shētsi ika bird Matsi Yuxibu, which means the owner of the climate, the owner of the cold weather” (Txima Kaxinawá, Indigenous woman leader from the Huni Kuin ethnicity, Brazilian Amazon, Researcher).

The gallery below features drawings by Txana Itsa. This is the Shētsi ika bird, known as the guardian of the climate in Huni Kuin ancestral knowledge, and it also serves as our research project logo.