The village of Mutum, Rio Gregório Yawanawá Indigenous Territory, State of Acre, Brazil, 2016.

In the course of some 50 years, the Yawanawá have emerged from complete invisibility into a period of exuberant cultural activity, becoming a reference point for sustainable living and indigenous culture for travelers from all over the world. In 1970, there were just 120 of them, with rampant alcoholism and the resulting social and cultural breakdown, to the point where their language was about to disappear. They were pressured not to use their language in front of whites, mainly by the owners of the rubber plantations, who controlled the forests of Acre from the late 19th century. The plantation owners treated them as slaves and did not want the language to reveal the existence of native tribes who might claim ownership of the land. Another threat was posed by Evangelical missionaries who had enforced Christian worship and attacked traditional indigenous rites as "demonic." Biraci Brasil Yawanawá, better known as Bira, assumed leadership of the group in the early 1990s, expelled the missionaries, got rid of the bibles, reestablished teaching of the traditional language, and began encouraging study of the old myths and stories as a way to pass down the old people's knowledge and memories to the new generations. In three decades, the population has grown to about 1,200 people.

Amazonia #3849

From

Amazonia

Description

Sotheby’s is pleased to present, Sebastião Salgado: Amazônia, the debut NFT collection from one of the world’s most celebrated living photographers. Masterfully crafted over the course of five months, Amazônia is composed of a collection of 5,000 unique photographs and Tree of Life, an original short video film with original audio as a 1/1. The collection spans more than a decade of Salgado’s visits through the Amazon. Among the 5,000 photographs there are 10 categories coupled with numerous traits representing the location, region, and villages Sebastião Salgado immortalized through these journeys.

Amazônia is both a love letter to and a call to action to support the extraordinary beauty of the region's rainforest, rivers, mountains, and people. Primary sale and secondary royalties' proceeds are to benefit Institut Terra, a non-profit organization cofounded in 1998 by Sebastião Salgado and Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado.

Artist

Sebastião Salgado

Artist royalty

Blockchain

Ethereum

Token standard

ERC-721

Contract address

0xf1...80fc

Token

3849