Best known as the key ingredient in one of Brazil’s most popular soft drinks, the seeds of the guaraná fruit have long been used by the indigenous people who live along the Maués-Açú River in the Amazon Basin. The Sateré-Mawé, who call themselves "the sons of Waranã," were the first to domesticate the plant, and they used it to make Sakpó, a sacred drink taken collectively as an illuminating source of decisions that guide the community towards the common good.
In their mythological essence, the Sateré-Mawé are beings born from guaraná. It was from the “eye” of the fruit that they sprouted and formed themselves as a people. According to their creation myth, Anhyãmuasawyp, a woman with superhuman characteristics, was fertilized by a snake. When she gave birth, her brothers refused to accept her child, expelling mother and son from their home. Anhyãmuasawyp raised her son alone, but eventually the boy returned to his birthplace to find out about his origins and was killed by his uncles. Before burying the boy, his mother, in a breath of wisdom, prophesied that from her son's dead body a strong and free people should be born. Then, she buried the boy's eyes on the earth. It is from his right eye that both the first guaraná tree and the Mawé people were born, and the people have relied on the tree ever since.
Click through this photo essay — and scroll over the images for captions — for a deeper look into a fruit with ancient significance that’s also a contemporary resource.
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Gabriela Portilho is a documentary photographer and journalist based in São Paulo. Her work focuses on issues related to identity, culture and communities in Brazil. As a photojournalist she has worked for The New York Times, The New Yorker, Wallpaper Magazine, Capital Magazine, Volkskrant, Instagram, Bienal Internacional de Arte de São Paulo, among others. She is also one of the founders of Doroteia, a Brazilian collective focused on under-reported stories of women in Brazil. Her website can be seen at http://gabrielaportilho.com and her instagram is @gabi.portilho.