About Huni Kuin Boa Vista

Indigenous people of Brazil and Peru.

The Huni Kuin indigenous people live in a shared territory between Brazil and Peru, being the most populous ethnic group in Acre, Brazil immersed in and interconnected to the majestic Amazon rainforest.

The Huni Kuin speak the Hatxa Kuin (True Language), a Panoan language, and they also speak Portuguese and or Spanish.

The Huni Kuin are the largest indigenous population in the Brazilian state of Acre, currently living on twelve indigenous territories along seven different rivers: Purus, Envira, Murú, Humaitá, Tarauacá, Breu and Jordão.

Hunting is of paramount importance in the Huni Kuin society. The Huni Kuin also fish, grow crops, and gather plans and other foods.

Women weave certain baskets, carve tools from wood, create feather-work and ceremonial regalia, make canoes and weapons, such as clubs, spears, and bows and arrows.

Like other native people, The Huni Kuin also had to resist years of exploitation and persecution, especiallly because of the rubber cycle installed in the forest for decades.

The Culture of these indigenous people and their ancestral knowledge are threatened in the name of an ideal exploitation due to modern society consumption-needs.

They continue to practice their sacred rituals and healing sessions with their plant medicines. They also perform traditional baptisms of their children and celebrate the "Katxanawa" (fertility rituals). 

The traditional medicines of the Huni Kuin are of immense impotance to their worldview, and the collective use of Ayahuasca 'Nixi Pae' has a prominent place in their spiritual practices.

Today Huni Kuin spirituality echoes throughout the world.

Learn more about them - your understanding can contribute to preserve, support, and strengthen their culture, which we all can benefit from - Kealoha Cristiano