Shamen, spirits, survival: how Claudia Andujar fought for the Yanomami tribe

The Swiss photographer found both friendship and a lifelong subject in the indigenous people – whose existence under Bolsonaro is more threatened than ever

At 89, Claudia Andujar still has her work cut out. For five decades she has photographed the Yanomami indigenous people, an Amer-Indian tribe who number 33,000 and live in 192,000 square kilometres of rainforest that straddle the borders of Brazil and Venezuela. Until the early 20th century they had lived almost entirely in isolation from the outside world, but since then disease, deforestation and climate change have taken their toll.

The election of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil has proved a further threat. Vehemently against legislation protecting indigenous lands, last week the far-right president commented: “Indians are undoubtedly changing … They are increasingly becoming human beings just like us.”

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from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3aQ0T7Z