Indigenous Love

By Noé Costa

Noé Costa’s second book leads us through an inspiring, thrilling and magical journey along the banks of the Rio Negro and its igarapés. This novel will awaken your imagination as you embark on an exciting adventure enriched by the charms and mysteries of the Amazon Forest. A dramatic story of two young people taken by an intense love, which grows entangled by their differences, customs, habits and cultures.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clube de Autores
• Release date: Oct 19, 2018

Book preview

Copyright © 2018, Noé Costa

Editing and Graphic Design:

Thiago Barata

Cover:

Thais Antunes

Illustrations:

Noé Costa

Editorial Revision:

Noé Costa

Maria Aparecida Martins Kuyven

Ebook Revision:

Moisés Silva

Images:

Noé Costa’s photographic collection

Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

BRITO, Noé da Costa (Author). Indigenous Love. Manaus: Noé Costa, 2018.

102 p.

ISBN 978.85.921628.1.8

1. Indigenous Love

CDD: 451.07

First edition, September 2018

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the author’s consent.

Summary

INTRODUCTION

PREFACE

PROLOGUE

TITO, THE GUIDE

HOW IS CULTURE LOST?

A PRINCESS IN THE JUNGLE

THE SCENARIO FOR LOVE

TEARS OF THE HEART

A WONDERFUL INTRUDER ON BOARD

A NIGHT IN THE JUNGLE

THE CURUPIRA

MADADÁ

AMAZONIAN ATTRACTIONS

SWEDEN

EPILOGUE

INTRODUCTION

It was between 2000, when I was in Olten, Switzerland, and September 2013, during a trip to the upper course of the Rio Negro (a tributary of the Amazon River), that the romance story narrated in this book was conceived. The story is divided into two very different parts.

The information about Sweden contained in this book comes from the knowledge I gained when I held several art exhibitions in the cities of Katrineholm, Vingåker and Uppsala for three months in 1988 and for six months in 1989.

The upper course of the Rio Negro hides one of the most isolated regions of the Brazilian Amazon, where there are many areas still unknown to the civilized man. This region not only has beautiful rivers, igarapés (streams) and igapós (blackwater-flooded forests) and diverse fauna and flora but also mysterious places where people still live in harmony with nature and have not been contaminated by the progress of our civilization. On the other hand, a few settlements of acculturated Indigenous tribes can be found on the banks of the Rio Negro and its tributaries, and it was from these riparian peoples that I gathered the vast information and learned the countless stories that were added to my experiences of the Amazon region.

In 1993, I visited and lived with the Indigenous Suruwaha tribe, which became later known for their suicide rituals. Out of this experience, I wrote my first book, An Adventure in the Hands of God. It tells of my exploratory adventure and about the daily life of this tribe that had never had contact with civilization—their beliefs, customs and peculiar traditions.

My experience with the Suruwahas provides cultural authenticity to this second book, a novel. It narrates the dramatic story of a boy and a girl taken by an intense love, which grows entangled by the customs, habits and cultures of two different countries.

This novel will awaken the imagination of the reader, who will embark on an exciting adventure enriched by the charms and mysteries of the Amazon Forest.

PREFACE

Noé Costa’s second book leads us through an inspiring, thrilling and magical journey along the banks and tributaries of the Rio Negro.

This book shows us that, through respectful and fraternal interactions, cordial and pure relationships can be established between riparian populations (with their habits, customs and folklore) and more advanced civilizations, even though their cultures are obviously very different.

Ah! Love with its all folly emerged in that place. Unbelievable. It proves that race, religion, education and social position are irrelevant to those who are in love.

Noé Costa, a visual artist, began his career as a painter at the age of 18. He has held exhibitions in Brazilian capitals as well as in some European countries. After becoming a renowned artist in Manaus, he expanded his work to other countries: Sweden, in 1988/89; Germany, in 1990; and Switzerland, in 1992.

In Switzerland, he met young Marianne Meier, with whom he got married, thus becoming a Swiss citizen. In 2001, he returned to Brazil with his family. Nowadays, Noé works as an administrator of his own tourism company together with three partners. He chose this job for his love of the Amazon and for feeling that his work contributes to environmental preservation and helps protect riparian peoples.

The writer’s determination in narrating Amazonian myths was born not only from the direct contact with riparian peoples but also from his fascination with the immensity of the Brazilian Amazon and its rich biodiversity. His dedication manifested itself in the form of a text rich in details about the life of riparian populations of the Rio Negro and its tributaries.

Throughout the pages bound together in this book, this novel presents a broad exposition of facts based on the author’s experience. Some facts may seem extraordinary, and yet all are deeply rooted in the culture and awareness that the Amazon rainforest is a national patrimony with finite resources, even though it is the largest tropical forest in the world. To preserve the Amazon, economic and ecological solutions must be found to guarantee a healthy life to its nature and populations.

PROLOGUE

National and international tourists who visit the Amazon State and have the privilege of visiting the Amazon forest feel touched by the place and change considerably their views of the region. And what does someone who spent his entire childhood free and comforted by the forest’s exuberance feel? That it is very difficult, nearly impossible to break the bonds with the Amazon. These bonds are eternal, a magical relationship of dependence, respect and affection.

If you enter a preserved part of the forest and stay there for at least thirty minutes, still and silent, you will surely feel something magical. It must be in silence. And the magic only happens if you achieve this small feat of staying put for a while, something uncommon to those who live in the city. Also, this experience doesn’t happen everywhere. It has to be somewhere that provides a certain level of safety and comfort for this difficult task.

The Rio Negro region is the most appropriate place for this experience because it is practically free of mosquitoes and other dangerous insects that are abundant in other regions and rivers of the Brazilian Amazon.

After about thirty minutes, your body undergoes a transformation. The skin experiences a gradual metamorphose. The 90% relative humidity no longer is a burden; the heavy air and heat become more easily tolerated by the skin, which has a fascinating capacity to adapt.

But it doesn’t stop there. Your hearing and other senses become keener. You begin to perceive very faint sounds; your ears grow so sensitive that you can hear without effort ants walking on the ground and other sounds that go unnoticed during a normal stride through the forest.

Next, your vision becomes amazingly sharper. With just a glance, you can identify animal tracks and tell when footprints were left behind in the middle of the vegetation or moist earth. Many creatures can be spotted among the dense vegetation, where in many cases it becomes impossible to penetrate without using a terçado (a machete approximately 75 centimeters long).

After the human senses connect with the natural world, one can see the magnitude of the forces of nature. It is extraordinary, almost indescribable.

The ability to admire beauty has always been part of a painter’s gift of inspiration. This ability is not limited to landscapes but includes all aspects and outlines of the fascinating things that exist in the Amazon, a natural stage of infinite shades and life forms even for the most sensitive and demanding impressionist.

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