In the Amazon Basin, in the interior of Brazil, systems of ritual and belief have existed for thousands of years unknown to most Brazilians. When the Villas-Bôas brothers established contact with the people of the Xingú less than 100 years ago, they became advocates for the indigenous people to the Brazilian government and society for the culture's preservation. We look at the stories shared with the brothers, exploring the relationship of life, death, and ritual in a drastically changing world.00:31 Map of Peru, Brazil, and the Country of the Amazons00:47 Yawalapiti men, serra do Roncador, MT. Brazil by José Medeiros01:08 Shamans of the Kamaiurá people by Sebastião Salgado01:19 Map of the Brazilian State of Mato Grosso by Theodoro Sampaio01:36 Orlando Villas Bôas e um índio Txicão from the Villas-Bôas Family Archive, Creative Commons02:38 Jardel Juruna, líder da Aldeia São Francisco by Cícero Pedrosa Neto, Creative Commons02:58 Pomacea bridgesii by H Zell, licensed under Creative Commons03:28 Festa do Kuarup dança em frente dos troncos by Mercello Casal Jr for Agência Brasil, Creative Commons03:47 Cotidiano by Lalo de Almeida03:55 Kuarup Festival Dancing in Front of the Trunks by Mercello Casal Jr for Agência Brasil, Creative Commons06:01 Francisco Juruna by Cícero Pedrosa Neto, Creative Commons06:27 The Eclipse by Alma Thomas06:35 Exhibit from the National Museum of Ethnology, Lisbon, Portugal, photographed by Diogo Baptista, Creative Commons07:04 Exhibit from the National Museum of Ethnology, Lisbon, Portugal, photographed by Diogo Baptista, Creative Commons07:19 Xingú River photographed by Douglas Wialin Menezes de Oliveira, Creative Commons07:28 Epicrates cenchria cenchria photographed by karoH, Creative Commons07:54 Cerrado - Parque Nacional Chapada by Eliane de Castro, Creative Commons08:11 Amazon Milk Frog by D Gordon E Robertson, Creative Commons08:26 Total Solar Eclipse, 18 July 1860 by Warren de la Rue08:48 Exhibit from the National Museum of Ethnology, Creative Commons08:55 Parrot Tile Panel by William de Morgan09:04 Aravutará: The Fate of The Dead, from Xingú: The Indians, Their Myths by Villas-Bôas09:47 Exhibit from the National Museum of Ethnology, photographed by Diogo Baptista, Creative Commons09:50 Harpy Eagle by Quartl, Creative Commons09:59 Harpy Eagle with Wings Lifted by Jonathan Wilkins, Creative Commons10:05 Eclipse from Centuria Astronomica by Albert Dyblinski10:20 Aldeia Ipatse by Pedro Biondi, Creative Commons10:25 Exhibit from the National Museum of Ethnology, Lisbon, Portugal, photographed by Diogo Baptista, Creative Commons10:28 Uruá Flute by Noel Villas-Bôas, Creative Commons11:01 Exhibit from the National Museum of Ethnology, photographed by Diogo Baptista, Creative Commons11:20 Bacaba Aldeia São Francisco by Cícero Pedrosa Neto, Creative Commons11:39 Kuarup Festival Painted Trunks by Mercello Casal Jr for Agência Brasil, Creative Commons11:45 Kayapó Bead Belt from the Museum of the Indian, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, photographed by George Magaraia11:59 Kuarup Festival Family Mourning Dead Parent by Mercello Casal Jr for Agência Brasil, Creative Commons12:30 Sons e Cores do Xingu - Horizonte by Horizonte Educaçao e Comunicaçao,Creative Commons12:44 Xingú Indigenous Park by Lalo de Almeida13:21 The Huca-Huca Fight by Maureen Bisiliat13:27 Indigenous Combat by by Mercello Casal Jr for Agência Brasil, Creative Commons15:53 Deforestation in Amazônia by Fernando Donasci16:02 Xingú Indigenous Park in Mato Grosso16:30 Farewell to Claudio and Orlando Villas-Bôas do Xingú by Maureen BisiliatAll works of art are in the public domain unless stated otherwise.Ambiment - The Ambient by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license.Works by José Medeiros; Sebastião Salgado; Lalo de Almeida; Alma Thomas; George Magaraia; Maureen Bisiliat; Fernando Donasci reproduced under Fair Use.