The ‘Grammy’ award-winning Brazilian musician, Heitor Pereira, who has labored with musicians reminiscent of Elton John, Okay.D.Lang and Hans Zimmer, talks to Survival concerning the inspiration behind his unique composition for Survival’s Awá tribe movie, the affect of Indigenous peoples on Brazilian tradition and, importantly, why serving to to guard tribal peoples’ lives is within the curiosity of all Brazilians.
How and why did you resolve to become involved with the marketing campaign to avoid wasting the Awá, the Earth’s most threatened tribe?
In the previous few months, I’ve been listening to unsettling information by way of the Brazilian press concerning the rising invasion of Indigenous lands by unlawful loggers. It’s a criminal offense that Brazilians have at all times felt very disturbed by, however just lately it has gotten worse.
I’ve at all times wished to contribute not directly to the attention of this concern. At this juncture, given my love for the historical past, individuals and pure habitats of Brazil, I felt compelled to take part. It’s an honor to be part of Survival Worldwide’s marketing campaign.
What was the inspiration behind the music you produced for Survival’s movie concerning the Awá?
The inspiration got here from figuring out that tribal peoples lead methods of life that should be protected.
And if I may help by providing some musical notes, it’s the least I can do.
How do you react to the Brazilian Minister saying this week in response to the marketing campaign, ‘Sadly we’ve a number of violence in relation to Indigenous peoples, and the size is such that it’s unimaginable, for any authorities, to stop conditions as they unfold.’
These conditions have been unfolding for the previous 500 years. That’s sufficient time for the federal government to discover ways to forestall a few of these primary acts of violence. In our nation’s historical past, there are numerous good individuals who have taught us the way to go about this.
What we should now attempt to forestall is such violent conditions unfolding to the purpose the place our Indigenous peoples grow to be extinct.
What’s your private expertise of Indigenous peoples in Brazil?
I grew up within the state of Espírito Santo, the place we’ve many coastal Indigenous tribes. As a child, I visited their villages to be taught extra about their methods of life.
In case you’ve heard the names of a lot of our fruit (acaí, guarana), our rivers (the Amazon River), our seashores (Ipanema, Copacabana), our soccer golf equipment, recipes, private names, and far, rather more, it is sufficient to make individuals understand simply how a lot Indigenous peoples affect our lives.
A few of our most stunning tales come from Indigenous peoples. A few of our Indigenous languages, a lot of that are dying, are probably the most musical languages I’ve ever heard. They’re like music to my ears.
And eventually, it is rather probably that each Brazilian has some Indigenous imprint in his or her DNA. So in defending them, we’re defending our essence.
