Amazonas

Brazilians called them ribeirinhos, or people of the rivers. This name, like a call from afar, tells a way of life deeply integrated into the Amazonian ecosystem. The history of ribeirinhos, recognized as a traditional population by the Brazilian state, dates back to the 19th century, during the industrial revolution, when the world fought over rubber, extracted from an endemic tree of Amazonia. Populations from the northeast of Brazil came to seek fortune in these regions as seringueiros (rubber tappers). However, the Brazilian rubber industry collapsed during the the 20th century. Rumors say that rubber tree seeds were smuggled out of the country by an English explorer to break the monopoly. The seringueiros, abandoned by their employers, disperse along the waterways and subsist thanks to a way of life respectful of the environment. During the rainy season, their daily life involves outings in canoes and activities in their houses on stilts. The other half of the year, they reinvest their land fertilized by the passage of the river. Above all, subsisting here has taught them to share living space with other species. The agreement is sometimes marvellous. The inhabitants of a village have got into the habit of watching squirrel monkeys crossing the village from palm to palm, everyday at night fall, punctual like the bells of a church...

Produced in 2021