Nẽn Ga vĩ – a kanhgág resumption on the move

This documentary, co-directed by indigenous researcher Nyg Kuitá Kaingang and anthropologist Paola Gibram, presents reflections and performances by members of the kaingang youth collective Nẽn Ga, from the Apucaraninha Indigenous Land, located in the north of the state of Paraná, in the southern region of Brazil . The kaingang voices – kanhgág vĩ – are presented in this documentary through the speeches of some of the members and people linked to the collective, as well as through songs – considered one of the main ways in which they present their ancestors [javé] and bring to his jagreh [guiding spirits] close to him. The film shows the strong connection between the Nẽn Ga movement and the indigenous school, exploring the ways in which contemporary kaingang reflect on the cultural and existential usurpations resulting from the many years of contact with the fóg [white, non-indigenous] people and the urgent need to resume the kanhgág practices and knowledge that were prohibited or violated – which they consider to have been “sleeping” and are now being “awakened”. The film shows scenes from the Festa do Pãri, one of the main revivals carried out by the collective. During the five days of the festival, the Kaingang camp on the banks of the Apucaraninha River, during which they prepare the pãri, an ancestral Kaingang fishing trap, made of braided bamboo. The documentary also shows Nẽn Ga's participation in indigenous political mobilization events, one of the main aspects of this collective's activities and formation.