Fire Becomes Spirit

"Fire Becomes Spirit" harnesses the power of photography and the indigenous Huöttöja people’s storytelling traditions in the Venezuelan Amazon, echoing its Shaman Jattupa’s ancestral vision of humans as nature's extension.

They already knew that looking for gold would be their downfall. That’s why they had always left it underground, even before Spanish missionaries arrived. The Hüottöja indigenous people of the Venezuelan Amazon have been led by shamans from the same dynasty for seven generations. Until the last one, shaman Bolivar, they hadn’t descended from the mountains, avoiding contact with foreigners. But Bolivar understood that an encounter was inevitable and didn’t want his people to be unprepared for transculturalization. So he led them downhill with the purpose to heal a wound that wasn’t open yet: the wound of humanity.

His heir shaman Rufino has met the future that his forefathers saw. The oracle already knew that mining would strip the Amazon bare and that seasons and temperature would become unpredictable. Honoring the legacy of his father, Rufino leads communitary socio-productive initiatives that intend to fight the advances of this industry on the territory they have inhabited for thousands of years. But he does it in a counterintuitive way: by installing a wifi router and inviting people into their homes and land in the Amazons state –even if the context could swallow them whole. 

The community trusts Rufino’s vision. They absolutely reject physical and verbal violence, and exercise self-control, contrary to the mining environment. This sets the Huottoja people apart as a spiritual society. In their tradition, humans are made of four elements: water (blood), earth (body), air (breath) and fire (spirit). With the use of yopo, an element of fire, they breathe spirit into the people. In their worldview, it is the way to heal the wound of humanity as we are all part of the same fabric.

“Fire Becomes Spirit” integrates as part of this fabric. Weaving a narrative that uses photography to include the Huöttöja people’s own vision of the world. This small community opens up in a hostile context. The Amazonas state is one of the most dangerous places in Venezuela today. From above, the jungle is scratched and broken with gold mines and violence. In their worldview, to heal body and soul with fire medicine means to heal their territory. So saving their land means saving themselves and healing the wound of humanity.