ISKU Vekehuhu CULTURAL CENTER – BRAZIL (Yawanawa)
The ISKU VAKEHUHU Cultural Center was inaugurated in 2022 in Aldeia Nova Esperança – Acre/BR – Amazon by Chief Isku Kua. This cultural center will benefit more than 200 children and young people, and focuses on the advancement of Yawanawa spirituality and language, creating a space for children and young people to study the sacred diets of their people, a central element within Yawanawa spirituality.
Since their first contact with the Western world, the Yawanawa have been losing their original language, increasingly using Portuguese. No one abandons or gives up their mother tongue because they want to. There are many factors, situations, contexts, and trajectories that lead an individual to lose their language.
A people’s language is their root, and by preserving the language we keep the Yawanawá cultural tree standing and strong.