YUBE HUNIKUIN
Yube Huni Kuin is the Vice President of the Federation (Fepach) which oversees 108 Huni Kuin villages in the state of Acre in the Brazilian Amazon. Yube is a political and spiritual leader that radiates joy, gratitude, forgiveness, and his love for the forest and nature.
Yube Huni Kuin is often referred to as the Buddha of the rainforest. Coming from a long tradition of Huni Kuin, he is one of the main carriers of the traditional Huni Kuin songs and ancestral stories his elders have passed on to him.
He is an agro-forestry specialist and was Secretary of AMAAIAC (Association Movement of Indigenous Agroforestry Agents of Acre) from 2002 to 2008 and the advisor for Indigenous Affairs with the Government of the State of Acre from 2011 until 2019. He is also one of the few Huni Kuin to have travelled all over the 108 Huni Kuin villages to document his culture and come from a long lineage of indigenous rights activists who have demarcated what is know today as the Huni Kuin territory.