Shaman Davi Kopenawa says: “Salgueiro’s honoring the Yanomami is going down in the history of the people—of the forest and of the city.”
In a conversation with the website Brasil de Fato (The Real Brazil), Davi Kopenawa, principal leader of Yanomami Land, celebrated his first experience of taking part in the parade of the Salgueiro Samba School in the 2024 Rio de Janeiro carnival last month.
“For all those who want to know my thoughts [after the parade], I speak with love, I speak with love. I love the Land, I love my Amazonia, the coordinator of the Hutukara Yanomami Association declared.
He spoke movingly of the happiness he felt passing through the Sapucaí parade grounds on top of a thematic float beside his “warriors.” Furthermore, the leader reiterated his demand that the illegal miners leave the territory.
“[The parade] was very good, very good, very strong, healthy and joyous. This is history that we’re bringing to Rio de Janeiro. This is historical and it’s going to remain in our future Yanomami generations and in the future generations of the city people,” he said.
On Sat., Feb. 17, Salgueiro returned to the Sapucaí for the Parade of Champions, beginning at 10 p.m. The samba school, which came in third this year, will follow first- and second-place winners Vila Isabel and Portela.