An Adventure In God’s Hands

By Noé Costa

There are several worlds within this one, unimaginable situations, adventure, dangers and strong emotions where in a trip to the heart of the Amazon Forest, Noé Costa and a Swiss doctor visited a wild tribe and felt in the skin the fear and the flavor of the adventure. This challenge would only have begun determined but the end can only be written thanks to the help of God, that allowed me to make that report.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clube de Autores
• Release date: Jan 18, 2018

Book preview

Copyright © 2016, Noé Costa

Front cover:

Thiago Barata

Editing and Graphic Design:

Thiago Barata

[e-mail]

Editorial revision:

Noé Costa

Images:

Noé Costa’s photographic collection

Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

BRITO, Noé da Costa (Author)

An adventure in God’s hands, an amazing adventure with the Suruwahas, the Indian tribe that practices a suicide ritual in the

Amazon. Manaus: Noé Costa, 2016.

85 p.

ISBN 978.85.921628.0.1

1. An adventure in God’s hands

CDD: 341.05

Al rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any

form without the author’s consent.

1. First edition, March 2003

2. Second edition, May 2006

3. Third edition, December 2016

SUMMARY

PROLOGUE ............................................................................................. 7

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 9

PART I

IN SEARCH OF A TRIBE ......................................................................... 11

PART II

FLYING OVER THE GREEN SEA ............................................................. 17

PART III

PATH OF DECISION ..................................................................................... 25

PART IV

ENCOUNTER WITH THE SURUWAHAS .......................................... 31

PART V

LIVING WITH THE WILD INDIANS ........................................................ 41

EPILOGUE ........................................................................................ 60

THE DISAPPOINTMENT ........................................................................ 62

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................ 64

PHOTO GALLERY.................................................................................. 66

PROLOGUE

This book’s author is a visual artist, born in Macapá, in the state of Amapá, Brazil, on September 7, 1967, of Indigenous, Portuguese and African descent. His father was a hunter who knew the Amazon forest inside and out. In January 1980, the author moved to Manaus, capital of the state of Amazonas. With a talent for drawing, he shortly took on painting and adopted the artistic name Noé Costa, participating in several individual and collective exhibitions throughout Brazil. In 1988, he had his first exhibition in Sweden. The following year, Noé Costa had three exhibitions in Katrineholm, Stockholm, Uppsala and Solna, in Sweden; in ‘90, Germany; and in ‘92, Switzerland. In ‘93, he got married and decided to settle down in Switzerland, where he spent seven and a half years and became a Swiss citizen. Noé Costa returned to Brazil in 2001 with his wife, Marianne Meier, and his son, Noah Costa. Currently, he is one of the owners of Katerre Expedition Ecotourism Ltd. and Hotel Mirante do Gavião, in the city of Novo Airão, Amazonas.

INTRODUCTION

What I am going to narrate here is a true story based on my personal experience.

I must first make a brief explanation so that the reader can understand the events that have occurred throughout my career, as it has been full of great adventures, not only in Brazil but also in Sweden, Germany and Switzerland. God grant I may have the opportunity to publish these stories in a future book entitled The Life of an Artist.

Even though I had lived in the Amazon, my ideas about indigenous people were far from reality. Little was known about the inhabitants of the forest; many accounts were misrepresentative or derived from studies that were limited and superficial, often portrayed in a fantastical manner. Since habits, cultures and languages greatly dif er among indigenous tribes, it’s difficult to obtain a general knowledge about these peoples. From this came the great interest I had in making personal contact with a tribe and gathering more information on the first and true owners of this land, who now struggle not to lose it again. This was when I heard of the Suruwaha tribe. I became fascinated by them, for even in their ingenuity, they already had a strong imposition of superiority, just like in many countries, we are the best and there are no people equal or better than us.

In this book, the name given to the doctor is fictitious due to privacy protection reasons. The facts and tales narrated by Kucanin or Mario are transmitted in the same way as I received them; for this reason, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of these accounts. However, with my lived experience, I can vouch and confirm the events of this adventure.

I ask the readers for patience if I somehow do not make myself clear through writing or if some phrases are badly written, for painting is my talent and I confess to being quite a layman in literature. It took me a long time to start writing this book but once I did, I felt great joy in it. The cover il ustration and some other il ustrations in this book are partial reproductions of my paintings. The photos shown here were taken, in many cases, with a hidden camera or with the permission of Mario.

Noé Costa

PART I

IN SEARCH OF A TRIBE

Everything was green and blooming in the farm fields, which looked like great gardens made to ornament the fascinating mountains, majestic and covered in snow, a harmony between strong colors. This great contrast to the colors of my native country was what came to my mind when I was looking from the terrace of the house where I lived in Switzerland, June 1992. I had been invited to hold an exhibition of my paintings in Zurich during the