Songs of the Amazon: Yawanawá Saiti + Hapé Gathering

We’re honored to welcome Kuru, Kenetsayny & Angelica Yawanawá, the children of the Chief of the Mutum Village of the Yawanawa, to Oʻahu for the first time, for a rare evening of Saiti, Hapé, cultural sharing, music, and Indigenous art.

This is an opportunity to learn directly from Yawanawá wisdom keepers — not only hearing their songs and teachings, but understanding the prayer, cultural memory, and spiritual traditions they come from.
For many, meeting these teachers means traveling deep into the Brazilian Amazon. This time, the prayer is coming to Oʻahu.

This gathering is a rare opportunity to learn directly from Yawanawá wisdom keepers here on Oʻahu — to listen, sing, ask questions, and experience their culture in community.

Saitis are sacred ancestral chants carried through generations of Yawanawá spiritual study and oral tradition.

They carry prayer, memory, teachings, relationship, and connection to ancestry — and are traditionally learned through devotion, repetition, spiritual study, and direct transmission.

During this gathering, Kuru, Kenetsayny & Angelica will teach selected Saitis directly from their lineage, sharing pronunciation, melody, rhythm, and the meaning and stories behind the songs.

For many of us, these songs become more than music — they can be a way of returning to the heart, finding strength in the voice, and remembering what prayer feels like when it is sung together.

Some songs will be shared a cappella and others with guitar accompaniment.

No musical experience is necessary. Come with your voice and willingness to learn.

The Yawanawa family, children of the Chief, will offer a traditional Hapé circle accompanied by Yawanawá prayer and song.

Hapé is a sacred Amazonian medicine traditionally prepared from tobacco and plant ash. Within Yawanawá tradition, it is treated as a powerful medicine of strength, protection, guidance, grounding, and connection to prayer. Matsiní teaches that it should be approached with respect and intention.

The circle offers an opportunity to receive the medicine directly within the prayer and tradition from which it comes, rather than encountering it without cultural context.

Receiving Hapé is completely optional. You are welcome to participate in the Saiti class, music, cultural sharing, and community gathering without receiving Hapé.

Learn directly from the Yawanawá about their culture, spiritual traditions, songs, relationship with the forest, and the work of carrying these teachings forward.

There will also be time for questions and conversation with the family.

The Yawanawá family will also bring rauti — traditional beadwork and adornments of beauty and protection — along with other handmade Indigenous art.

The geometric patterns, or kene, are connected to Yawanawá spirituality, ancestry, and relationship with the forest. Yawanawá beadwork has been described as carrying blessing, protection, courage, strength, wisdom, and remembrance of ancestral connection.

Each piece is handmade and directly supports the artists and families who carry these traditions forward.

Please bring cash if you’d like to purchase from the Indigenous Art Market.

Your participation directly supports the Yawanawá family and their continued work of preserving, practicing, and transmitting their culture and traditions.

For many people, meeting these teachers means traveling deep into the Brazilian Amazon.

This time, the prayer is coming to Oʻahu.

Come learn.
Come sing.
Come gather in aloha.

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• A pillow and mat — whatever supports you in sitting comfortably on the ground. Some chairs will also be available.
• Water bottle
• Journal + pen if you’d like to take notes
• Your voice
• An open heart
• Guitar if you play and would like to follow along
• Cash for the Indigenous Art Market
• Comfortable clothing

Event venue & nearby stays

Kapwa Tattoo Studio, 900 North Nimitz Highway, Honolulu, United States

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.

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