Help the Captured Spirits Come Home in 2012
The Project
In January 2012, for the first time, the Wauja saw films made of their ancestors nearly a century ago [more]
The Journey
With no roads leading from outside the Park to the Wauja village, the only access is by light plane or boat [more]
About the Wauja
The Wauja are an Arawak-speaking people living in several communities in the Upper Xingu region of the… [more]
Team Bios
Emilienne Ireland is an anthropologist based in Washington, D.C., and has worked with the Wauja since… [more]
Events
Emilienne Ireland's lecture will be video-recorded and provided to all Indiegogo and Kickstarter backers [more]
Thanks to Our Backers!
The Wauja filmmakers shot a wide array of material, far greater in scope than we had expected [more]
Kamukuaka, the Sacred Cavern
When we originally planned the project, we had hoped to include a visit to Kamukuaka, a sacred cavern,… [more]
Return of the Captured Spirits
Arriving in the Wauja Village
Three young Wauja children watch excitedly as the Return of the Captured Spirits team arrives in the main Wauja village of Piyulaga in January 2012 with their laptops, projector, video equipment, and other gear to show the historical movies and shoot the new RCS video. more [Photo credit: Mori Rothman]
Preserving Traditions While Learning New Skills
Young men play ceremonial flutes, accompanied by female dancers. The ceremony was recorded in the Wauja village of Piyulaga, an indigenous community of Arawak-speakers located in the Xingu Indigenous Park in Northern Mato Grosso, Brazil. Note the young Wauja filmmaker using digital technology to record the dancers. The Wauja currently have three communities, located in the Amazonian rainforest, on the Batovi and von den Steinen rivers. Raw footage provided by anthropologist and filmmaker Marcelo Fortaleza Flores.
Preserving Connections with the Past
Anthropologist Emi Ireland recalls a conversation with some members of the Wauja indigenous community in Central Brazil, when they first realized that she lived in a large city, surrounded by people who were complete strangers to her.