Power and Inocence

A few days ago i had the privilege of watching a ritual performed by a couple of indians from the Funi-o ethnic group, they are from Aguas Belas in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. They performed beautifully, in full naked attire, painted red in Urucum and black in ash. They chanted and danced in amazing rithm, and although they were just 2 performing a ritual meant to be performed by 4 males and 12 females, they struck a very deep chord in the audience.

Stamping their right feet they chanted with such a conviction, without restraint or repression, inocent, free. Indians are almost always seen as ingenues, and in Brazilian legislation they are treated as unemancipated children, for it is thought that the complexities of "civilized" life escapes them. In a certain sense it does, this is not the argument here. What trully impressed me is the amazing power that wells from a complete mythical perspective, when they cried like hawks, hawks they were, and i could feel their chant rippling the air and cracking me open.

We, the so called civilized, with the i dont know how many layers of meaning built over that mythical foundation are in such dire need from that wellspring of generative power. Are we too sophisticated? Have we sinned so much that our inocence is irecoverable? How can we aspire second tier if the grounds to our ancestral beingness are paved over?

I was in true awe of their dignity, of their connection to a past lost in the ages, of their "naturalness", and also of their fragility. Not that believe in the savant sauvage romantic mith or that i advocate their preservation in formaldehide, to be put in a jar in a freak museum. It comes to mind tthat if we had trully honored this ancestry in our own civilization in an unbroken line, perhaps even those cultures could rest in peace, because they would be part of our cultural genome. Perhaps the reason they still resist is because they must, they must. Tey must put our convictions to the test, even to shame, they are our grand grand parents asking us if we are doing good, asking us if the Earth is still proud of us, and if our children will have a reason, and a place to live their lives...

Thank you dear brothers, may your dance save our souls!