We warmly invite you to a SPECIAL EVENT of the Living Lab in Nature-inclusive Education.
Indigenous Perspectives: special visit of Amazonian Huni Kuin family
Wednesday 14 january 2026 / 12:30 – 13:30
Impulse Speakers Corner
We have the delight of being visited by four family-members of the indigenous Huni Kuin, at home in the Brazilian Amazon and known for their deep connection to the rainforest. We will have the opportunity to get acquainted with the family, their way of living, the knowledge they carry, as well as the challenges they face as a community. We will also zoom in specifically on their way of raising children in touch with nature, and on what, in their view, young people need in order to grow into capable, wise and caring adults. In other words: what can we learn from them on education?
There will be an open lunch lecture at 12.30 at Impulse Speaker Cornern, Wageningen Campus, followed by an afternoon workshop, which will be a chance to dive deeper in contact with the family and their knowledge and traditions. We will also probably go outside for a short celebration/blessing tradition, and make time to hear some traditional songs and see the crafts of the village.
If you would like to come, please send an email HERE
ABOUT THE VISITORS
Paje Tene Sapa
Tene Sapa s a highly respected elder and traditional healer of the Huni Kuin people along the Jordao river in Acre, Brazil. Born in 1945, he dedicated his life preserving and sharing the language, ceremonies and healing traditions of his people. Through his teachings, writings and ceremonial practices, he is passing on the lineage, customs and communal responsibilities to younger generations. As a healer, having done many years of long diets and traditional ceremonies, he maintains the deep medicinal practices that reflect the community’s holistic approach to health and spiritual wellbeing. His life and contributions highlight the power of intergenerational knowledge transmission within the river communities of Acre.
Maje Nixi Bimi
The hands that weave, the heart that heals, and the voice that carries ancestral wisdom forward. As the wife of Tene Sapa, she is a true feminine force in the village of Tuku Nixi, leading with humility, quiet strength and deep knowledge of the traditional ways and healing rituals. She teaches with a generosity that makes learning feel like remembering. She also masters the arts of shaping color, patterns and story in weaving textile and beads. Through years of dedication to the teaching of her people, elder Bimi walks the path of a caretaker, artist, healer and guardian of tradition.
Metsapa Menki
A native leader and master of medicine songs and ethnomusic within the Huni Kuin culture. As the son and apprentice of Tene Sapa and Nixi Bimi, he was raised in a traditional environment speaking the original language Hatxakuim, practicing the original traditions and ceremonies of the Huni Kuin. Through his practice of the musical tradition of his people, he shares the interconnectedness of all beings in nature and the harmony of the Amazon rainforest.
Nai Baruany
Nai is a cultural guardian and guide committed to healing, reciprocity, and the protection of indigenous lands and forests. As the wife of Txana Metsapa, as a guide and as a translator, she brings deep respect and lived knowledge. Her mission is to unite indigenous communities across borders, strengthen collective voices and launch projects that safeguard ancestral territories while increasing global awareness of the Amazon’s beauty and vulnerability.
