Chief Ninawa Huni Kui
Cacique chief and President of the Federation of the Huni Kui People of the State of Acre (FEPHAC) in the Brazilian Amazon, the Cacique Ninawa is one of the most remarkable figures of the new Indigenous guard of the Guardians of the Forest. A true ambassador of his people around the world—before institutions and international summits, and appreciated by the general public—the Cacique Ninawa is a courageous opponent of any form of the financialization of nature, particularly market-based forest protection solutions financed by the carbon market, whose negative impacts on Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities worldwide he documents and describes.
In 2017, he answered the call of the Cacique Raoni and joined the Alliance of Mother Nature’s Guardians to become the spokesperson for all Indigenous Peoples of Brazil at a historic Great Assembly in Brasília, bringing together Indigenous representatives and their allies from 80 Indigenous Peoples and 25 countries. He has therefore played a key role in the birth of the Declaration of the Alliance of Mother Nature’s Guardians and Children of Mother Earth, which he has since promoted worldwide, calling for cooperation with the Alliance’s Guardians to establish forest sanctuaries. The cultural richness of his Huni Kui people—also known as “Kaxinawé” (“True People”)—is recognized worldwide, as is their traditional medicine.