“Our living libraries are our elders, whom we call specialists. They are the ones who safeguard all the knowledge about our theories and concepts,” says Carla Wisu, an anthropologist and administrator of the Bahserikowi Indigenous Medicine Centre, at the Tukano-Desana-Tuyuca Living School, located in Manaus, Brazil. Born in the Cucura Manaus community, in the Upper Rio Negro Indigenous Territory in northwestern Amazonas, and a member of the Desano ethnic group, she highlights the strength of ancestral knowledge transmission as the foundation of life, spirituality and the existence of her people.
Carla Wisu took part in the meeting “Diálogos Fundo Brasil–ONU no Alto Rio Negro: Encontro de Saúde e Proteção de Povos Indígenas” (Brazil Fund–UN Dialogues in the Upper Rio Negro: Health and Protection Meeting of Indigenous Peoples, in English), promoted by UNESCO and PAHO/WHO to support Indigenous communities and strengthen traditional knowledge in the Upper Rio Negro. The event, held in São Gabriel da Cachoeira (Amazonas State) in August 2025, gathered Indigenous leaders, specialists, and institutional representatives in a space for dialogue, experience-sharing, and the recognition of Indigenous science as a central pillar of health and territorial protection policies.
During the meeting, Carla Wisu had the opportunity to engage in dialogue with other participants and Indigenous leaders about what she envisions for the future of her people, especially regarding Indigenous education and health. She emphasized the need for public policies that recognize and value Indigenous medicine and ancestral knowledge as systems of knowledge that are fundamental to comprehensive community care.
Throughout her journey, she has highlighted the importance of valuing Indigenous wisdom as a foundation for a harmonious and holistic relationship between nature and human beings, particularly in the context of Amazon biodiversity conservation and the protection of traditional ways of life. For her, ancestral knowledge does not belong only to the past, but guides living, current and essential practices for maintaining balance in the contemporary world.
A master’s student in Social Anthropology at the Federal University of Amazonas (PPGAS/UFAM), she emphasizes that elders, as guardians of this knowledge, offer profound pathways to understanding the balance of life, the cosmos and the relationships that sustain the forest and its peoples. This knowledge guides practices ranging from care for the body and health to ways of living in harmony with the territory.
“Indigenous science is the only one that can save the world, and receiving this support from non-Indigenous organizations is extremely important for us, as it shows that there are still people who believe in Indigenous science,” she states. She also highlighted the importance of Indigenous presence in decision-making and dialogue spaces and identified progress in collective struggles. “Now we are occupying many spaces, showing the importance of always maintaining a relationship of respect with nature, whenever we come into contact with it, because it is an extension of our body. If the forest dies, our body may also die,” she says.
She recalls that the concept of health goes far beyond the absence of disease and emphasizes the community, territorial and spiritual dimensions of Indigenous well-being.
The meeting in São Gabriel da Cachoeira marked the beginning of activities under the project “Comprehensive Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Indigenous Children, Adolescents and Youth in the Brazilian Legal Amazon.” With a focus on territorial governance, bioeconomy and the protection of Indigenous children and adolescents, the initiative involves the collaboration of UNICEF as the coordinating agency, along with the UNFPA, the UNHCR, the ILO and the IOM. Local coordination was carried out with the support of the Federation of Indigenous Organizations of the Rio Negro (FOIRN), in addition to national, state and local authorities and Indigenous organizations.
This activity was made possible through funding from the Brazil–UN Fund for the Sustainable Development of the Amazon, in partnership with the Interstate Consortium of the Legal Amazon, the Brazilian Government, and with the support of the Government of Canada.
READ MORE: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/indigenous-knowledge-guides-dialogue-education-and-health-upper-rio-negro-brazil
