Chief Pina Varinawa's Childhood Story

"My name is Pina Varinawa. I was born on January 12 1991, the son of Vari-Teka and Tayo Waninawa. Today I am 34 years old—an artist, musician, spiritual leader, and Indigenous activist of the Noke Koî people, living in the Vari Teka Village, in the Katukina Indigenous Territory of Campinas, Acre, in the Amazon region of Brazil.

My childhood began with separation. When I was two, my parents parted ways, and my grandfather, the shaman Txuki, welcomed my mother and me into the rubber plantation of Bacia. Life there was simple but deeply connected to the forest. Among straw houses and the scent of wet earth, I discovered the meaning of family, care, and tradition. Each shared meal, each quiet morning with my grandfather, was a lesson in resilience and spirituality.

When the paving of the BR-364 road began, my grandfather decided to move us closer to it, hoping for opportunities in the city. At that time, I wasn’t in school yet; my days were filled with hunting, fishing, and listening to my grandfather’s spiritual teachings. My father was absent, and his new wife’s rejection left me with a deep sense of abandonment—a wound I carried quietly.

One memory from those years remains vivid. While fishing at the Martins stream, I was stung by a stingray. For two weeks, I lay in a hammock, immobilized by pain. My grandfather treated me with medicinal plants and sacred prayers until I healed. That experience revealed to me the true power of nature and the spiritual strength that lived within my family.

Not long after, my grandfather took us to the city of Cruzeiro do Sul. We left the village at dawn, full of hope, but urban life was harsh. I owned only the clothes on my back. After two days, they were dirty, and I had nothing else to wear. I asked my grandfather for shorts, but there was no money. My mother improvised a covering out of a plastic bag. I wore it with tears of shame, but in that moment of humiliation, I found a new determination—to live with dignity, to work for my livelihood, and never to rely on luck alone.

Five days later, we returned to the village. My grandfather brought my father along, and from then on, he visited me more often. When I was eight, my father asked me to live with him. But after only three weeks, his wife again refused to accept me, and I returned to my grandfather. It was he who encouraged me to study, teaching me to read, write, and see the world with wider eyes.

Despite rejection, hardship, and scarcity, my childhood gave me gifts: humility, courage, and perseverance. Every challenge I overcame, every lesson from my grandfather, every teaching from the forest became the foundation of who I am today. These experiences shaped my path as an artist, musician, and spiritual leader—and taught me to honor my roots, my culture, and the ancestral strength that continues to guide me." Click here to listen to Pina's music on Spotify