Nixiwaka Yawanawá is a member of the Yawanawá tribe — a community of indigenous people who live within the Amazon rainforest — on the Acre River Headwaters Indigenous Land. Like many other Amazonian tribes, the Yawanawá rely on the rainforest for their subsistence, and the land holds a very deep spiritual significance, Nixiwaka says. However, their land is being illegally invaded and projects like dams, roads, mining and agriculture are destroying their way of life.

Indigenous people are all over Brazil are speaking out against these changes and fighting for their right to live on their ancestral lands in peace. Nixiwaka asks us to consider why a way of life that is designed to be entirely in tune with its environment and resources is being destroyed by a way of life that isn’t.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx