TESTIMONY IN A QUEDA DO CEU: PALAVRAS DE UM XAMÃ YANOMAMI BY DAVI KOPENAWA AND BRUCE ALBERT

Abstract

The present work addresses the testimonies in several chapters of the book "The Falling Sky: Words of a Yanomami Shaman" by Davi Kopenawa and Bruce Albert. The book is a non-fictional account by a shaman in collaboration with French anthropologist Bruce Albert. The initiative began in the 1990s, at Kopenawa's request, in response to the missionary brutality and the Northern Perimetral Road that his people were experiencing. The research aims to identify testimony within the mentioned work. The specific objectives are based on analyzing the memories of the Yanomami people, discussing the testimony as described and experienced by Kopenawa, and exposing shamanic prophecy as the Yanomami people's resistance. The research methodology is qualitative, utilizing technical procedures to analyze the work and is also rooted in the understanding of human behavior. Furthermore, the work conducts a theoretical investigation of authors such as Harlow (1987), Bosi (1996), Kopenawa (2015), Albert (2015), Sarmento-Pantoja (2021), Sarmento-Pantoja (2014), among others, who provide the theoretical framework for the research's development. In light of the above, we can conclude that the discussion in this work is relevant for a shift in historical narratives, contributing to the valorization of the history, culture and voices of indigenous peoples.