This Journey is by application only. 

The Indigenous people of the Amazon have suffered greatly from the "white" people coming into their territories. In the 1800's the rubber tappers enslaved them, forcing them to work for the rubber industry so that the ever-growing demand for rubber from the West could be satiated. Car tires and the war industry demanded those resources.

The rubber tappers left the Amazon abruptly around 1912 when rubber plantations emerged in South East Asia. Now it was much easier to tap rubber from a tree standing in long rows, instead of finding the lone rubber trees somewhere in the middle of the wild Amazon forest. 

After decades of torture, rape, and killing only 10% of the Indigenous people of the Amazon were left. 90% didn't survive. This is a genocide that is hardly talked about. A first wave of extinction they survived with great losses. 

In the 20th century, many missionaries went into the Amazon to convert the remaining Indigenous people to Christianity. And as they might have had good intentions of helping the "untamed" and "wild" people, it is painful to see what their actions have done. They forbade the tribes to speak their languages, use their traditional medicines, sing their songs, go into their ancient ceremonies and forced upon them catholic schooling and Western Health care. This didn't go very smoothly in many places to say the least. A lot of violence, rape, and abuse happened in those decades.

The precious knowledge that was accumulated over centuries, maybe even millennia, passed on from generation to generation in a purely oral tradition has most probably been diminished by around 90% through the work of the missionaries. 

Getting to that level of understanding and knowledge can take thousands of years. Understanding the forest and Her secrets, to learn how to survive in a harsh environment and to thrive there. Learning the Medicines one by one, how. to use them, how to work with them. Learning about the path of dietas, rites of passage. Learning about the Spiritual Force, the songs, the prayers, the art of healing and so much more. 

In just a few decades of contact with the "white" people, most of the Indigenous people and their very precious wisdom have already been destroyed. 

This second wave of extinction they also survived. 

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In the last years there has been a rapid growth of the use of Ayahuasca all over the world. That growth is putting a huge pressure on the Amazon basis and the people who have birthed and stewarded our beloved Medicine into our reality in these times. When that rapid growth keeps happening, we foresee that it might be a 3rd wave of extinction that is happening to the Indigenous people of the Amazon. 

If we would like to see these precious cultures like the Yawanawá survive, we believe that the utmost care is required in the next years. 

It can be very easy for the "white" people to enter the jungle with a colonial mindset. For that reason, we would like people to apply for this Journey and feel your respect and intentions before committing to this journey together.

This is not a visit to an exquisite Disney land. This is a sacred Journey to the Yawanawá. A place to give thanks for all that we have received through the Indigenous people of the forest. This Journey might provide to opportunity to write a new story. A story of evolution, supported by their Medicines and their wisdom. Show that we have learned to listen and observe. That we have learned how to overcome white supremacy perfection. To see that the virus of growth is suffocating the Amazon and it's precious people. 

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Our team for this Journey will all be volunteering their time and energy. They will receive no financial compensation for being part of this Journey. 

The donations that we request for the Journey will all go in the best support of the Yawanawá. Dennis, who has spent 18 months with the tribe since 2013, will be in the jungle for 4 months to learn where the finances can be best put to use. After the Journey is completed, we are open to being completely transparent about how the finances have been directed with the people that have joined. 

We are still becoming more clear about what the donation amount is that we feel appropriate for this Journey. At the moment we think that a minimum donation of $ 2000,- for the Feitio and a minimum donation of $ 3300,- for the Festival feels appropriate. 

We will also write more about some of the projects that are happening in the territory in the next months for the ones of us to feel to be in support of those. 

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It has been 4 years ago that Dennis was last with the Yawanawá. In 2018 the seed of our land in the Santa Cruz mountains was planted. 

We look forward to going on this Journey together and showing gratitude for all that has been received through the Medicine, through the Yawanawá, and through the Amazon. 

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"If sustainability is the highest science, then we should look to those for answers that have a proven track record of living in one place for thousands of years without destroying it's life-bearing capacity. Those people, by definition, are Indigenous peoples."

- Patricia McCabe Diné thought Leader.