Tashka and Laura Soriano Yawanawá

Chief Tashka Yawanawá and Laura Yawanawá represent the critical perspective often missed in the discussions about the future of indigenous people in Brazil: that of the indigenous people themselves.

For Tashka and Laura Yawanawá, leaders of the Yawanawá people living in the Acre region of Brazil, engagement with the world begins with his people’s right to self-determination and self-worth.

The son of a former leader of the Yawanawá, as a boy Tashka witnessed the near annihilation of his culture by the New Tribes Mission and by the pressure of economic interests. He studied in the United States and visited other indigenous communities. With other tribal leaders in the Amazon, he is working to restore dignity, identity and a sustainable economic future to indigenous populations, founded on their own values, culture and definition of prosperity.

Laura Soriano Yawanawá works to sustain indigenous communities around the world. In 1998, Laura Soriano, a Mixteca-Zapoteca activist from Oaxaca, Mexico, met indigenous Brazilian activist Tashka Yawanawá -- and they realized they were both, in their own ways, bridge-walkers between two worlds. The two married and began the Nawa Institute, an organisation to serve indigenous communities. Now, they travel the world connecting with indigenous peoples, assessing needs and offering tribes and groups solutions on their own terms, addressing both economic and cultural revitalization of today's indigenous communities. Laura speaks four languages and holds a degree in journalism and international relations.