"Bayíri", a word that catched my attention 10 years ago while researching thru books about Amazon Tribes and their relationship with Nature, a subject I was exploring for my final project at the University.
I found this interesting word in a book called "Desana: Simbolism of Tukano indigenous from Vaupés." from Gerardo Raichel-Dolmatoff, Bogotá,1968. I found this book at my University's Library and it enchanted me with all the stories about how the Desana tribe, from Colombian Amazon, experienced the world and all the relationships and connections between this world and the other.
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Bayíri means to Invoke. The invocations are a tool to connect with the animal spirits and learn from them, ask them for help when humans need their wisdom, in order to keep balance in this crazy world.
So I find this word powerful and encouraging, it's a word that brings hope that things can be done in a better way if we are willing to, by going back to basics (I'm sure you have heard this a lot his days), but it's true, it's time to rethink what we are doing, where are we going with the kind of life we live in, what's going to happen if we continue to let everything be as it is...
So as David Attenborough says, Nature is not just nice to have, we need it in order to survive.
It's time to behave as Nature.
"By assuming the shape of supernatural beings and wild animals, and by balancing the forces of good and bad, they secure the health and fertility of their village and the land."
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All the images above does not represent Amazon tribes, I chose them because they represent the idea of humans transforming into animals in an artistic way in order to make better decisions.
Images Source
Århem, Kaj. Makuna : portrait of an Amazonian people ; photographs by Diego Samper. Washington ; London : Smithsonian Institution Press, c1998. pg 128.
Reichel-Dolmatoff, Gerardo. Indios de Colombia: momentos vividos, mundos concebidos. pg 176.
Reichel-Dolmatoff", Gerardo (1968). Desana: simbolismo de los indios Tukano del Vaupés. Bogotá : Uniandes.pg134.
Davis, Wade (2009). Amazonia Perdida. La Odisea fotográfica en Colombia de Richard Evans Schultes. Villegas Editores.pg 70.