The Xikrin People of the Xingu River will be our hosts for two nights. This edition of The Boom Boom Travel blog is devoted to our outstanding experience with the people of a remote indigenous community on the the Xingu River. These people and their land will be directly impacted by the world’s 3rd largest construction project the Belo Monte Dam. We learned the affects the dam will have on the Indigenous of Brazil’s Amazon and about the lifestyle they are trying to preserve.

Our crews is a 9-piece jaugernaut of artists and culture-seekers alike. Aaron, Sean, Theo, Geordie, Richard and Tom make up the band. The Boom Booms, as a band, make up 6 of the crew seeking music styles and techniques to bring to their own original music. Two members of the crew, Syd and Jorah are here to film and document all the happenings throughout the trip. They will be working with others at home in Vancouver to air our episodes online. Filipe has been the guide, translator, booking agent, and coordinator throughout the whole trip. Filipe is from Rio de Janeiro and has lived in Vancouver for the past seven years working in Marketing. So far the tasks have been quite streamline, The Boom Booms have experience in booking shows and coordinating a financially stable tour. With our travels to Central America, Europe and Brazil we have performed for people, literally from all around the world. With this team we hope to capture the colours and cultural lifestyles of Brazilians in video, photo and text. How can The Boom Booms celebrate with thundering drums, anthems and loud street music like the Brazilians? And in what way can we bring it all back home to Canada?! For our first event in Brazil we have decided to explore an issue on in the Amazon today, this is the story of our time on the mighty Xingu:

The Xikrin People reside south-east of the City of Altamira and only 1 hour boat ride from the Belo Monte Dam site. In 1995 government conservation groups mapped an area for the 19 tribes that live throughout the Amazons extensive jungle. The Xikrin have an area nearly 100x100km. We traveled 6 hours down the river on a high-speed motor boat to reach an amazing village, one of the largest near the Volta Grande “Big Bend” area of the Xingu. On the way we passed 4 communities with palm-leaf roofed houses, small canoes, and a dozen children playing outside. The river is 2 km wide in some places. When we pass the Belo Monte dam site we are amazed at the distance between the white marker signs on either shore. The Dam will be the third largest in the world, and by this site we can not imagine the time and construction materials needed in stopping such an amazing force of water. Coming from BC we are also amazed by the trees. Some shoot another 70 feet above the canopy! Along the river, birds and monkeys dip around tree branches and small birds fly along with our boat traveling near 55mph. Much of this life will be removed for the construction project and others it will require.

The Xikrin people are concerned about the Dam project for several reasons. The main accusations against Dam engineers and coordinators is that they have not provided tribe leaders with enough information about the post-affects of the Dam. Their have been several promises from government officials, and not all have been met. The indigenous have since been offered compensation in the form of schools and pharmacies but the government has yet to follow through with any of its “commitments”. After the construction, the Xikrin people will see a decrease in water levels and fish population. A young leader named Mukuka traveling with us says that his main concern is that his children will not grow up with the same lifestyle he had. The river-tributaries system is the akin to our road system with out it they will be cut off from fishing, hunting and neighbours. Highways will eventually have to be built and with that indigenous people will no longer be able to control who has access to their land creating a host of problems. Our host Chief Bebeto cited that all these modern pressures are creating modern problems like the concept of stress and he is fearful for the future of his people. Imagine living without stress ever?

Time with the Tribes

We truly bonded with Chief Bebeto of the Pot Kro village. After our first evening in the jungle we woke up early to coffee and yuka root and went fishing. A line, a hook and deer meet were all that we had to catch Piranhas and Pescado fish. We were successful in the first half hour! The waters are high this time of year and the fish have fruits and insects to eat, with lower water levels they are able to fill the boat, and they literally do!

A visit to another tribe, on route to a sacred volcanic-rock embankment, taught us more about the rugged beauty of these tribes. A hunter had just come out of the forest with a gun and a bow. He did not have a catch today but he told us a jaguar hunting story after we curiously asked about dangers in the Jungle. He spoke in Portuguese so that we would understand and told us that a Jaguar ran for his son when they were both hunting one day. He bravely killed the cat before it met its target and his son helped to finish the kill. Our jaws dropped and we went silent for a moment. He then said that they are very dangerous, to which Geordie replied “You are very Dangerous.” They took us into the village to eat fire cooked turtle and yuka. Much of the yuka in Brazil is crushed and toasted in a pan. In the jungle the yuka root is tough and less-refined. They told us stories about the relationships with other tribes along the river. The chief pointed the direction his grandfathers lived, and where his cousins and brother are living now.

When we arrived at the rock embankment we climbed to see a view of the meandering river. This section is nearly 200 yards across and we look several kilometers down the river to see it disappear into even more deep, green jungle. The hot rocks had hundreds of centipedes and small pineapples for us to poke at. The Chief loved to get pictures, he insisted that we get a picture of him on the rock overlooking the land. The history books show much of the lifestyle of these peoples, but we experienced, first-hand, an insight into their pride for their land.

We visited a very new village just west of our view-point. Here we had our fish, played dominoes, and shared a laugh with the two chiefs, loggers, and fishermen from the area. Our crew of 9 really enjoyed this mid-day hangout. We taught them some logging sport games from Canada. The tribes have chainsaws which they very skillfully cut Brazilian-nut Trees. A hard wood, with flat roots protruding into the forest floor, these trees fall with much more force than British Columbia’s fur trees, which are among the heaviest we know of. The boards are shared all along the river and help to construct simple framed homes that have intricately layered roofs made of palm leaves.

That evening we had a chance to show them some of our songs. We were told earlier in the day that the women were preparing for ceremonious song and dance typically practice 2-3 times a year. They performed the dance with soaring vocals, slightly reminiscent of Native American pow-wows. Check out our Videos online for their music.

Before this amazing experience they arranged a soccer game including young and old. They played with much more endurance than any of us had in our lungs. An epic game for everyone to see. The game lasted for over an hour and a half, carries into the night and finished with handshakes and children’s laughter. We lost but the village enjoyed the entertainment.

The morning was early, we had a lot of river to cover in order to get back to Altamira to play a show. The sound-check waited as we roared through over 10km of jungle and strong currents. Before leaving we were honoured with body paintings. The paint is used to symbolize life in the jungle. Some of the markings that we received symbolized snake skin or turtle back patterns, leaves, flowing water, wood grain, etc. It was the perfect art to hold with us for the next ten days and a memory for the rest of our lives. Our intention was to learn their lifestyle and see the importance of wildlife in their wild lives. It is very important to hang on to the traditions and practices that they have always done. We were proud to have these markings representing life for them. Clearly the biggest thing for the indigenous here is that the fishing and hunting along the river will irreversibly change.

The amazon river is only one of its kind and man’s “development” goals are changing its path and geologic history. This is not to mention the change to dozens of tribes that live here. The challenge is to progress our population spread and energy-development goals with understanding and great care. I believe the best solution for this area is to avoid the use of this massive dam and instead look to alternatives . Decision-makers and people should resist the urge to gain profits and urban lifestyles in this part of Brazil as the deforestation will have global affects as we risk losing millennial of evolutionary progress and development. To get involved, you can spread the word around the world by checking out Amazon Watch or ISA – Instituto Socio Ambiental online.


Facts about the Belo Monte Dam Project: (Source from Amazon Watch Website @ www.amazonwatch.org

up to 80% of the Xingu River will be diverted from its original course, causing a permanent drought on the river’s “Big Bend,”
two huge canals 500 meters wide by 75 km long will be excavated, unearthing more land than was removed to build the Panama Canal
Belo Monte’s two reservoirs and canals will flood a total of 668 km2 of which 400 km2 in standing forest. 20,000 people are required to move from homes in the municipalities of Altamira and Vitoria do Xingu
The government has planned a USD $40 billion investment in mining expansion for the Amazon region through the year 2014.
The Belo Monte dam complex is expected to cost upwards of USD $17 billion, including $2.5 billion for the transmission lines.