This section of the book had the same style writing wise of the other parts we looked at but the content was less explaining Yanomami cosmology and shamanism and more present day focused. I love how Kopenawa talks about and to politicians.He is straight up and doesn’t beat around the bush. I really liked the part with the Brazilian president when Kopenawa was told that there were too many prospectors and too little money get them to leave so Kopenawa says “I answered him that by speaking with such twisted words he only wanted to deceive us and let our land be invaded. Then I added that he must be a weak man whose mind was full of oblivion and that he could therefore not claim to be a true great man.” No bullshit just straight up and I love it. And the best part was that he called out the lies being told, making it clear that he knew they were lying to him and he was not going to accept. Kopenawa’s description of politics is right on and it made me laugh. “Their politics is nothing but mixed-up talk.” Best description of politics I have ever heard.

One thing that I found very interesting was that was that the xapiri are exist outside Brazil and are everywhere in the world. I assumed that they only lived in Brazil but they are actually everywhere. These important beings to the Yanomami and they are apart of the whole but others have lost touch with them. Europe is full of them and they are apart of all of us. This is something that is a similarity between peoples around the world which shows there are similarities even among very different cultures. But there are also a variety of differences that need to be recognized and respected. Things like how people see the world and what they see as proper behaviour.

Kopenawa made a really good point about people actually following their words with actions. People so often just say the right words and speak out against problems but that’s where they stop. Words are only powerful if they are followed by actions. It does not matter if you make speeches about protecting the environment if you don’t actually do anything else. The big problems facing our world need more than words. Just words won’t save the environment or help the Yanomami. Action will because that’s what will bring change. Words are important to get the ball rolling but that’s just the start.