By Shelby Tuttle
The lungs of our planet are facing an existential threat. Corporate exploitation — cattle ranching, monoculture crops, mining, and logging — is decimating the irreplaceable ecosystem that is the Amazon rainforest, pushing it to a perilous tipping point. But amidst this crisis, the Kuntanawa Nation in Acre, Brazil, are leading a powerful resistance.
Nearly erased by genocide brought to the banks of the Amazon by the rubber trade in 1911, the Kuntanawa lineage narrowly survived through just six of its nation’s members. Five women were taken into sex slavery by Portuguese slave owners, who then gave birth to children in captivity. The life of one fiveyear-old boy was also spared, shown compassion from his captors. It wasn’t until 1988 that the Kuntanawa Nation was liberated and recognized as a sovereign nation. Today, the tribe is comprised of about 1,000 people, with 400 living in three main villages. Now, they’re working to secure their ancestral lands and lead a fight for global climate survival.
According to Dr. Hayra Kuntanawa, co-leader of the Kuntanawa Nation, these latest industries to threaten the survival of the Amazon prey on impoverished communities by hiring them to burn their own land. “Many local communities are left with no alternative but to participate in harmful practices, often influenced by corporate misinformation. This has led to environmental and health crises, contaminated water, and extreme heat from burning seasons that dry rivers, springs, and wells, and decimate entire ecosystems,” she says. “This has brought us to a global tipping point.
The Amazon is critical to regulating the Earth’s carbon, producing oxygen, and sustaining the planet’s water systems.” Coupled with climate change, deforestation creates not only extreme drought, but land that cannot absorb rain once it does fall in the Amazon. This leads to increased water runoff and flooding, impacting community infrastructure and the safety of the forest’s residents. At the time of writing, leaders of the Kuntanawa Nation are working to draw attention to recent flooding in the Amazon, with multiple homes, roads, and the community’s soccer field under water.
A CALL FOR GLOBAL ACTIVISM
Through their organization, Associação Socio Cultural e Ambiental Kuntamanã (ASCAK), the Kuntanawa are leading the “Transform and Illuminate” initiative, which advocates for the Kuntanawa Indigenous Nation and also actively supports local impoverished, non-Indigenous communities — those who are descendants of freed slaves with no cultural affiliation — and uncontacted tribes through fundraising campaigns and reforestation efforts around the Kuntanawa territory. Their work relieves pressure from corporate deforestation and supports 38 riverside communities and over 2,800 people.
The Kuntanawa also use soccer as a way to connect their mission with the greater population, hosting events like the Cup of the Trees, which utilizes the sport to raise environmental awareness and promote tree planting as a way of restoring the land.
Haru Kuntanawa, esteemed leader and husband to Hayra, is the recognized prince of the Kuntanawa Nation. He also serves as an ambassador of the Brazilian Indigenous Football Team, where he advocates for Indigenous presence and perspectives within the league’s national and global forums. In this role, he works to leverage soccer’s popularity across the globe to promote urgent environmental issues, many of which connect back to his home within the Amazon rainforest.
In a landmark move in June of 2020, Haru signed the Global Climate Pledge on behalf of the Kuntnawa Nation, making it the first Indigenous nation to sign, and solidifying their role as an international partner of the pledge. The tribe’s participation in the Global Climate Pledge, aiming to gather 2 billion signatures, underscores the accessibility of climate action. “With the Kuntanawa tribe as a part of our team, we now have access to generational wisdom regarding the protection of the Earth,” said Michelle Thatcher, CEO of the U.S. Green Chamber of Commerce, a partner in the Global Climate Pledge.
A FIGHT TO PROTECT THEIR CULTURE AND THE PLANET
In order to protect their land from encroachment and further destruction, Haru and four members of the tribe traveled to the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil last summer to successfully petition for the right to demarcate 100,000 hectares of their ancestral lands — a step vitally important to preserving their Indigenous culture. The Kuntanawa’s territory, called Kuntamanã, has in recent years become home to a remarkable archaeological site which has unearthed significant artifacts offering a glimpse into both a beautiful culture and the violence that threatened to erase it.
Pieces of ancient pottery, funeral urns, and bullet casings have all been pulled from the land. Generational knowledge states that while in captivity, Haru’s uncle and grandfather discovered artifacts as many as 70 years ago, but the Kuntanawa’s aggressors made sure that the findings were kept quiet to ensure continuation of various trades. As such, Haru notes that little attention was paid by the tribe to the memories that happened there.
“This site is the discovery of an ancient kingdom and holds the memory of the Pano-speaking people,” said Haru. “This land is proof of the living, breathing roots of tribes who thrived here, with memories that are fizzling away as the land is erased from industry. Demarcation is the way to protect it so that these memories can carry on.” In 2010, Haru issued a call to 12 neighboring Indigenous nations to come together to celebrate the cultures and traditions of the Pano-speaking people (many Panoan languages have been lost due to cultural assimilation and socio-economic pressures). He shares that after the festival, the land came back to life, and its history began to be further revealed.
“Kuntamanã is a portal of our ancestral history — we activated the energy,” he says, noting that the tribe’s sacred fountain began to run once again, while powerful animals like jaguars and black panthers returned to their lands, and the sounds of their ancestors were heard by many. “Kuntamanã is a global center for education and humanity. It is evidence of an ancestral lineage that has become a manual for survival,” Haru notes. And while demarcation is undoubtedly important for the preservation of the Kuntanawa’s culture, it is also a critical step in ensuring the protection of the environment and biodiversity of the land.
This May, Haru and Hayra will lead a campaign in partnership with Zach Bush — internationally recognized environmental thought leader and founder of Project Biome — to secure the $500K in funding necessary to carry out the demarcation process. Although FUNAI — a Brazilian governmental protection agency for Indigenous Peoples — is involved in the operations, resources can be scarce and the process of demarcation is often slow. “We seek to inspire people to remember that we each have the choice to walk as guardians and stewards of Mother Earth, rather than participants in her destruction. Our mission is to awaken humanity to its role in protecting the planet and building a future rooted in harmony, respect, and care for all life,” said Haru.
According to a 2016 study from the World Resources Institute, Indigenous lands in Brazil have the potential to prevent the annual emission of over 31.8 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As of December 2023, FUNAI had registered 761 demarcated Indigenous lands representing 13.75% of Brazil’s territory. “What happens here affects the future of humanity,” said Hayra.
DIVINE PARTNERS IN HEALING
Both Haru and Hayra travel together to the United States often, speaking at conferences and facilitating various retreats, spreading the message of environmental stewardship and unity across continents. The couple’s union is lauded as a modern inspiration among the Kuntanawa — Haru, a prince through royal lineage, and Hayra, an American from Colorado. A revered medicine woman and doctor of Chinese Medicine, Hayra followed divine guidance from an Akashic Records reading to travel to Pisac, Peru, where she encountered Haru, with whom she formed a strong friendship that eventually blossomed into romantic love and a powerful union that transcends language barriers and cultural variability.
Together, they offer ancestral Kuntanawa teachings of sacred plant medicines, helping individuals realign with their purpose and awaken their responsibility as stewards of the planet. These traditional plant medicines — hapé, a plant medicine in snuff form; sananga, a type of eye drop thought to decalcify the pineal gland and open users to deeper visions during meditation; and kambo, a traditional medicine used in purging or cleansing rituals — are carefully cultivated with intention and prayer in Kuntanawa tradition. Some of these plant medicines are available through Kuntanawa Goods, the tribe’s online marketplace, which is fully owned and operated by the Kuntanawa people.
“Counterfeit and unauthentic products have caused real harm to our people by stealing income from the community, misrepresenting sacred medicines, and exploiting our traditions,” says Hayra. “Kuntanawa Goods protects the integrity of our culture by ensuring that every purchase directly supports the Kuntanawa people through housing, clean water, food security, and the preservation of our way of life.”
PLANNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Looking ahead, Haru and Hayra hope to establish a center and school focused on agroforestry, traditional knowledge, and cultural restoration where students can learn sustainable practices, revive ancestral traditions, and create regenerative economies rooted in harmony with the forest. The Kuntanawa’s mission is a call to action, and their resilience, battle for cultural preservation, and environmental activism serve as a powerful example. To support their many efforts or assist in funding the demarcation project, visit www.Kuntanawa.org/donate. Join the Global Climate Pledge at www.globalclimatepledge.com.
