Meet the artists

Iba Huni Kuin, also known as Isaias Sales, was born in 1964 in the state of Acre, Brazil, in a rubber plantation called Fortaleza, in the area of the Jordao River (Rio Jordao in Portuguese, Maxi Tupiya river in hatxa kuin language). He is a well known and reputable txana, a true master of the traditional Nixi Pae chants he has learned from his father, Romão Sales Tui. Iba's grandfather was known as Chico Curumim Tene, and there is an indigenous village named after him. During some time, specially in the 1970s, the Huni Kuin were forced to work in rubber plantations, prohibited of speaking their language and of practicing their culture and rituals. Because his elders had kept their culture, even if in secrecy, Ibã is proud of the role his family has played in the preservation and recuperation of Huni Kuin sacred chants, which Iba started researching when he was 28.

Text adapted from Iba's bio in the book "Huni Meka: Cantos do Cipo" (2007)

Nai Mapu Yubekã ( Acelino)