History of the Kupixawa

Since their origins, the Noke Koi people have practised and strengthened their cultural practices, including dances, body painting, beliefs, sacred rituals, traditional cuisine, housing, traditional medicine, handicrafts, dwellings and spirituality.

Both types of knowledge have been passed down from generation to generation over thousands of years. In the past, the Noke Koi people lived in a single large kupixawa (ma’i shovo), where everyone in the tribe lived together, but with separate quarters for each family. Therefore, there was a large space inside the ma’i shovo for the people to carry out their traditional customs in their daily lives, such as collective meetings, collective meals, weddings, sacred rituals, traditional festivities, and educational teachings to young people, children, and adults of all ages. The teachings were passed down by the shamans and elders of the tribe. However, this happened before contact with white civilisation.

The Ma’i Shovo did not only symbolise a dwelling or space for the tribe’s practices and teachings, but also symbolised the origin of the creation of the Noke Koi people. This is what the Ma’i Shovo symbolises and why it is so sacred to the people. The Noke Koi people emerged from a hole in the ground covered by a tile, which is why the kupixawa is not only a space for cultural practices or housing, it represents the creation and emergence of the Noke Koi, which is why the Ma’i Shovo is shaped like a hole. Therefore, over thousands of years, the Noke Koi have always built the Kupixawa to the present day, as it represents their origin and emergence into this universe.

We still practice the teachings and practices mentioned above in our daily lives, and this knowledge will never be forgotten by the tribe. The kupixawa were traditionally built with palm trees and wood, i.e. raw materials, but now the tribe needs modern materials to build the ma’i Shovo because of global warming and the large-scale deforestation and burning in the Amazon, in order to preserve the forest and protect medicinal herbs and spiritualities. Building the kupixawa with modern materials does not mean that we are weakening our cultural practices, which have been passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years. We simply want a more durable structure and to no longer have to cut down trees and palm trees to build the Ma’i Shovo. We want to keep our forest intact so that future generations can benefit from natural resources in the same way that our ancestors benefited and in the way that we are benefiting in the present, without harming nature….

You can help us to build a Kupixawa for the Aldeia Varivino by donating here.