Iauaretê, Waterfall of the Jaguars
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From the Ashaninka Villages series in the Video in the Villages collection
By Vincent Carelli
color, 48 min, 2006
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In Iauaretê, Waterfall of the Jaguars, the Tariano Indians of the upper Rio Negro decide to reclaim their culture after decades of missionary-imposed Catholicism. This involves the restoration of the sacred Iauaretê waterfall, home of the Jaguar people who tried to destroy the mythological Tariano ancestor Ahkomi. Contemporary Tariano leaders also visit a museum in Manaus where they recover precious stolen decorations, in order to put them back into ritual use. The attempt at cultural revival culminates in the rebuilding of the Maloca, the communal house that was destroyed upon the arrival of priests in the 1920s. The house is inaugurated with celebration and traditional dancing, and older people hope that their children and grandchildren continue to reclaim their Indian cultural identity.
Film Festivals, Screenings & Awards Terres En Vues/Land InSIGHTS Montreal First Peoples' Festival, 2007
International Ethnographic Film Festival of the Royal Anthropological Institute, UK, 2007
other films from the Ashaninka Villages series:
Imbé Gikegü, The Scent of Pequi Fruit
New Era
Kiarãsâ Yõ Sâty, The Agouti's Peanut