She keeps traditions alive

Vari Vati being helped across a bridge in the Marubo Indigenous Territory in the Acre state of Brazil. — ©2024 The New York Times Company

AFTER more than 100 years in the rainforest, Vari Vati Marubo walks with a stick and, as she always has, barefoot.

So when her indigenous tribe, the Marubo, gathered for meetings this year in a village that would require a 20km hike across streams, fallen logs and dense forest to reach, everyone knew it would be difficult for her to attend.