Sacred Echoes of the Amazon

Bridging Indigenous Wisdom with Urban Futures

You are cordially invited to a rare and sacred evening of cultural exchange, visionary dialogue, and ancestral music.We are deeply honored to host a very special, uncommon visit from Chief Nixiwaka of the Yawanawa tribe's Sacred Village.

The evening will bridge ancient wisdom with future-focused solutions, featuring a short panel discussion between Chief Nixiwaka and Tony Cho (Founder of Future of Cities).

Event Highlights:

Dialogue: Chief Nixiwaka & Tony Cho (Future of Cities) 6:30-7:15pm

The Lineup:
🎵 Opening performance by Giselle World
🎸 Sacred music by the Yawanawa tribe featuring Nawashahu and Peu Yawanawa 7:15-9:30pm
🌿 Optional Hapé offering

There are about 1200 Yawanawá living in the

Brazilian state of Acre, in villages along the banks

of the Gregório river, where they have made their

homes since time immemorial.

The Yawanawá people's first contact with the

non-indigenous world happened around the

fourteenth century. It was an intense period of

much conflict with the rubber barons and

missionaries who invaded their lands and tried to

forbid Yawanawá language, culture and

spirituality. In the 1980s, Chief Biraci Nixiwaka

Brazil led his people in the struggle for the

recognition of their native territories, and the

Yawanawá became the first indigenous people to

obtain the official rights to their lands in the state

of Acre.

The Yawanawá have since then reclaimed their

sacred medicines, rituals, songs and dances,

festivals, games, traditional body painting and

adornment, artwork and food, in a profound

journey of cultural revival.

Chief Nixiwaka is one of the most relevant indigenous leaders of our time. He has dedicated his life to empowering his people and reclaiming their ancient culture and spirituality.

As a young adult, Nixiwaka became part of the formation of the Brazilian Indigenous Movement.

As he traveled representing his people, he became aware of the resurgence of other indigenous communities in the Americas.

Inspired, he returned to his village determined to reclaim the ancestral wisdom that was under the spell of Missionary intervention and psychological warfare,

and he bagan the cultural revival of his people.

Nixiwaka was instrumental in having his people, the Yawanawá, be the first Indigenous tribe in Brazil to have their lands oficially demarcated.

After reconquering the rights over their land, encompassing 200 hectares of virgin forest in the heart of the Amazon, Nixiwaka, alongside his family, led the opening of their culture to the world.

He founded ‘Nova Esperança’ (New Hope) village, and created the ‘Yawa Festival’, which was the first Indigenous Festival in the Amazon that has been happening annually for over 20 years, in celebration of Yawanawa traditions.

Nixiwaka oversees the development of many projects in his community, including the current project of rebuilding the Sacred Village, ensuring cultural preservation and the sustainable management of their ecological sanctuary.

He is an exceptional orator, riveting story teller and a true visionary of the New Times humanity is presently embarking on. He represents his people in Brazil and around the world and is a key speaker in numerous international forums including Iceers, Maps & The Ayahuasca Forum conferences. as well as, the World Economic Forum and more, where he shares the Indigenous vision of an ancestral future for the continuation if human life on earth and the preservation of the planet.

Yawanawá spirituality is a sacred territory where a woman had never dared to step, for since ancestral times, it had belonged exclusively to men.

In 2005, two women, Putanny and her sister Hushahu,

were the first women to embark on the highest diet of the Yawanawa and take the sacred oath of the Yawanawa people. They have since been recognized as the first women to undergo Yawanawá spiritual training.

After a year of strict diet, they earned their communities' respect as spiritual leaders, and opened the way into this sacred path for many other Yawanawá women.

A break in tradition that united the male and female universes - and brought the magic of feminine spirituality to strengthen the Yawanawá culture.

Nawashahu is the eldest daughter of Putanny and Chief Nixiwaka Yawanawa. She has been brought up to become a leader.

Nawashahu has been very dedicated to her studies of Yawanawa spirituality, dieting with the elders and always seeking to learn more from the leaders of the tribe.

Nawashahu is a guardian of the ancestral knowledge. She is a very talented singer and musician known for the moving guitar and voice melodies she creates to accompany the ancient Yawanawa Saitis (chants).

Nawashahu has accompanied her parents in their work and travels outside the villages since an early age.

Peu is one of the most devoted spiritual leaders from the younger generation of the Yawanawa people.

He committed to the sacred “samakei” (dieta), the Yawanawa’s highest spiritual initiation, for five consecutive years. In this period he received direct teachings from the elders Tata and Yawa, who have recently passed away. His studies with the elders brought exceptional strength to his work with the sacred healing prayers of his ancestry.

Today Peu is responsible for preparing and serving the medicines in the Sacred Village.

He is also a talented musician, and has traveled to Europe, North America and Asia sharing Yawanawa spirituality.

An impact entrepreneur and regenerative living advocate, Tony Cho has spent decades pushing the boundaries of real estate, urban design, and regenerative living. Raised in an ashram in Florida, Tony's unique upbringing gave him a deep connection to nature and community, shaping his lifelong commitment to building spaces that heal.

His career has taken him from the streets of Miami's Wynwood Arts District to co-founding the ChoZen Center for Regenerative Living — a biodiverse lagoon area cited by Dan Buettner as a "blueprint for a Blue Zone."

Tony is the co-founder of Future of Cities, the Climate & Innovation HUB in Miami, and the Phoenix Arts & Innovation District in Jacksonville. His work has positioned him as a leading voice in sustainable urban innovation and community development.

Through Metro 1 brokerage and his founding of the Magic City Innovation District, Tony has influenced the transformation of Miami's neighborhoods.

Tony's work blends ancient wisdom with modern lifestyle, creating spaces that heal, inspire, and regenerate communities.

Giselle World is an international medicine woman, performing and recording artist & composer, who is also recognized for her musical healing contributions in the medicine community via singing and her flute working with various different Native American tribes, organizations, and ceremonies.

She has been extensively in service to plant medicines for 14 years studying with indigenous tribes from Mexico for her peyote trainings, and with tribes from the Brazilian Amazon, and Colombian and Peruvian tribes, as well where she embarked in deep master plant dietas.

Giselle is an advocate for indigenous rights, as well as sharing about indigenous wisdom and culture all over the world using music as the main tool by teaching about the cultures through workshops and song circles. She has also been a Humanities Professor in the university for over a decade.

Giselle has been invited to the United Nations on 2 different occasions, as a speaker on a panel for Indigenous Mental Health, and to open ceremony and sing for World Oceans Day.

Giselle is on a mission to bring unity & consciousness to our earth and purpose as humans through plant medicine and music connecting people to the frequency of our Pachamama in all kinds of settings throughout our beautiful Mother Earth.

LOGISTICS

Family please eat before hand as there won't be food available for sale.

Please bring your own reusable water bottle.

PARKING:

Street parking

ALTERNATIVE PAYMENTS:

If you 'd like to avoid paying the eventbrite fees, feel free to send your payment via Venmo to @giselleworld with your name and which event you are attending.