Fly Fishing Deep in the Amazon Jungle – Peacock Bass, Wolf Fish _ Kayapó Traditions

My time in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest gave me a lot to think and write about. It was not just the diverse wildlife that I saw, the strange toothy species of fish that I caught on a fly rod, or even the huge expanse of jungle and water that I was suddenly immersed in. It was the people, the natives of this land that made the biggest impression on me. These incredible people I met, the Kayapó indigenous people, walked right off the pages of cultural anthropology textbooks from my studies in college. They are the legacy of the Amazon rainforest. They are what I needed to write about. More than 500 miles by plane from Manaus, the Kayapó indigenous community lives in the Kenjan village on the banks of the Iriri river. The Iriri is a tributary of the Xingu river basin, which is the largest basin of emerald clear water in the Brazilian Amazon. It's almost entirely located inside the Makranati indigenous territory, nearly 20,000 square miles of pure virgin Amazon forest that is also an ecological reserve. To get to the nearest town, it takes up to 25 days by boat during high water, making it one of the most isolated portions of tropical jungle on earth. Of the 45 Kayapó villages, Kenjan is one of the smallest with roughly 120 inhabitants. It was founded in 93 by chief Kukatiri. He saw the big granite rock standing high above the jungle and named it Kenjan, the place of the standing stone. The Kayapó are a proud ethnic group known as accomplished warriors and guardians of the Amazon. This fierce preservation of their territory from the environmental threats of gold mining and logging companies have given them worldwide recognition, including being the inspiration for the storyline of Avatar. Of Brazil's hundreds of indigenous tribes, the Kayapó are often considered the most prosperous and the most powerful. Rather than going off to work for the gold mining and lumber companies just outside their home, these tribal members stay in their village and in essence they're preserving their cultural legacy by taking pride in their traditional way of life. August is the dry season here in the Amazon and the river was dropping two inches every day. Two hours on the river with our gear loaded in the canoes, we still had two more hours to go before we'd reach our destination. I soon realized just how deep into the jungle this adventure was leading. Over a week's time, I learned that the Kayapó know this river and its braided channels like we know our neighborhood streets. The Eriri River is their daily connection to life in the jungle and it would be the pathway they navigate, guiding me to the most incredible Amazon fishing I'd ever experience. I had a good feeling that the next five days would be an epic adventure of a lifetime. Do you feel like you need that? I do, I feel like I need a little bit of sugar. I'm ready to catch a big one. This clear water allowed sight fishing and my guide André was about to teach me just what that's all about on the Amazon. I finally landed one of the small peacocks and André told me to flip the fly back out and keep it moving. The tribe's painter, always a woman, find and collect a local fruit called the Jenipapo. An endemic fruit found in the Amazon jungle and using their hands they mix the pulp and the seeds together with charcoal to form a dark bluish black stain that stays on skin up to 10 days without washing off. The drawings represent important animals like fish scales, turtle shells, or snake skin or special moments in the Kayapó life like weddings and births or hunting and fishing expeditions. Getting painted in Kenjim is a special and almost spiritual experience. It's not only getting painted, it's getting the Kayapó culture and tradition in your skin. This was not just another amazing fishing trip, this was a cultural adventure into the Kayapó's Amazon. These people, proud and independent, are the fierce stewards of the Amazon jungle. The legacy of Brazil's rainforest is in their hands and with their voices heard, the Kayapó are the heart of the Amazon.