Guarani-Kaiowá leader, shaman and founder of the Aty Guasu movement dies

The spiritual leader of the Guarani-Kaiowá people, the shaman Atanásio Teixeira, died in the early hours of today (18), in Mato Grosso do Sul. Atanásio was one of the best known ñanderus (prayers) of his people and also the founder of the Aty Guasu (great meeting), a general assembly in which the indigenous people organized themselves to deal with the recovery of the Kaiowá and Guarani territories in Mato Grosso do Sul. Born in 1922, Atanásio was called ñamoi (grandfather) by leaders and prayers from different Kaiowá communities, for knowing the most varied techniques linked to Kaiowá shamanism. On its page on a social network, the Kuñangue Aty Guasu movement, the assembly of Guarani and Kaiowá Women from Mato Gosso do Sul, said that in recent days Atanásio had been feeling a lot of pain in his stomach and that his physical health was very weak, “This morning grandpa/Ñamoi Atanásio Teixeira ancestors. A difficult passage that marks our journey, Seu Atana rested from this physical world. The Kuñangue Aty Guasu family has followed the many departures and tragedies that have taken place in our territories in recent weeks, and as daughters of the great Jary Guasu, we continue to mourn and fight for those who are gone, for us and for those who will come! May Jary Guasu and ñande Ramõi welcome you back to Ongusu Guasu. Rest Ñamoī Atana!” he wrote. In 2021, Atanásio published his first book with traditional prayers from the original peoples. The “Cantos dos Animais Primordiais” presents 26 stories of birds and other animals of the forest, accompanied by “guahu” songs, the so-called “mythical songs” that sing the history of the Guarani-Kaiowá since the beginning of time. The pedagogue and anthropologist, Tonico Benites, an indigenous Avá Kaiowá, who studies conflicts between the official school education introduced in the villages and the traditional education carried out by the extended families of the Ava Kaiowá, as well as violence against the indigenous families of the Guarani-Kaiowá people, in southern Mato Grosso Grosso do Sul, lamented the death of Atanásio and told Agência Brasil that the fact represents a great loss for the people. “Today this great loss occurred. A very important religious leadership, which supported the people they defended, protected the language, tradition, culture, all our knowledge”, said Benites.

Agência Brasil