About this Event
San Francisco Psychedelic Society is excited to host Matsini and Family for an unforgettable night of music, sacred rapeh ceremony, indigenous art, visionary plant education, and Amazonian culture. 🌍🎶
Join us for a remarkable evening that transcends geographical borders and immerses you in the vibrant spirit of the Brazilian Amazon. This is a unique, multi-faceted event in Berkeley, California, where we come together to support and celebrate the Yawanawa people, welcoming in leaders of an indigenous community from the heart of the Brazilian jungle. This is a special and unique opportunity to learn directly from the tribe about their wisdom and traditions. They will guide a sacred Rapeh medicine ceremony, filled with their beautiful prayers and blessings. This event is an entry point to establish a profound connection with the world of visionary plants, allowing you to sit in the presence of knowledgeable teachers who hold the wisdom of these sacred medicines directly from the jungle. Our evening will begin with an exclusive screening, followed by a rapeh ceremony and live music concert.
What to Bring: Please bring your own back jack and pillow for the ceremony.
🎤 Educational talk
You will expand your understanding of the Yawanawa peoples, an indigenous community from the heart of the Amazon rainforest. This talk will provide valuable insights into their traditions, sacred visionary plant medicines, and the challenges the community faces in preserving their rich cultural heritage. Learn about the rituals and ceremonies that surround sacred medicines in the Yawanawa culture.
🎸Live Music Concert
Let the rhythms and prayers of the rainforest enchant your soul as we present an extraordinary lineup of musicians, each bringing a piece of the Amazon to Berkeley. Experience the traditional sounds of the Yawanawa, in a concert that promises to transport you to the heart of the jungle.
🌿 Rapeh Ceremony
Participate in a profound and ancient ritual known as rapeh, led by indigenous shamanic practitioners. This sacred ceremony, utilizing a traditional Amazonian snuff, offers a unique opportunity for personal growth, healing, and spiritual connection. It's a chance to experience the wisdom of the forest in a profound way. The rapeh ceremony is completely optional.
🎨 Indigenous Art Market
Explore a curated art market featuring exquisite creations from indigenous artists and artisans. Explore sacred geometry designs and ancient art from the jungle. You can support these talented artists while taking home a piece of the Amazon's rich cultural heritage by acquiring jewelry, rapeh and handcrafted exquisite pieces.
🎙️ Q&A Session
Ask your burning questions and engage in an interactive dialogue with our teachers. Gain a deep understanding of the spiritual ancient wisdom of this community.
⭐ Supporting Indigenous Communities
By attending this event, you're not only immersing yourself in an evening of cultural expansion, but also actively contributing to the well-being and empowerment of the Yawanawa Tribe and honoring reciprocity of indigenous peoples. A significant portion of the proceeds will be directed towards the preservation of indigenous culture in the Brazilian rainforest.
Experience the magic of the Amazon right here in the bay area, where we come together as a community to celebrate the force and vitality of the forest and its indigenous guardians. Let's stand together in solidarity, recognizing the importance of preserving these vital cultures and their natural habitats. Together, we can make a difference and support these indigenous communities as they share their traditions and wisdom with the world.
About the Yawanawa :
The Yawanawa people live along the banks of the Gregorio River, in the Brazilian state of Acre. They are the guardians of some 200,000 hectares of Amazonian rainforest, of which about 95% is kept intact. In the most biodiverse biome on the planet, their ancestors developed a vast knowledge of the healing plants of the forest and a cosmovision of great spiritual wisdom.
The Yawanawa's first contact with the non-indigenous world happened a little over a hundred years ago. The initial conflicts reduced the Yawanawa family to less than 100 people. For decades they endured the presence of the rubber industry and the missionaries who invaded their lands and tried to forbid Yawanawá language, culture and spirituality. In the 1980s, their fight for the recognition of their ancestral territory led the Yawanawá to become the first indigenous people to obtain the official rights to their lands in the state of Acre.
Under the guidance and teachings of pajés Tata and Yawa, the last living elders and medicine men of their people, the Yawanawa have been on a profound journey of cultural and spiritual revival. Their sacred rituals, prayers, songs and art are now celebrated all year round. In the last 20 years, the Yawanawa leaders have been dedicated to developing a model of sustainability that allows them to engage with the outside world on their own terms, without compromising their cultural and spiritual identity. Nowadays, the Yawanawa population is estimated at over 1000 people, 80% of which are children and youth. The new generations carry their identity with pride and are committed to the continuation of the legacy of their ancestors.
In the last decade the Yawanawa youth introduced instruments such as guitars, flutes and drums into their traditional ceremonies and prayers, and an exceptional musical culture has been rising from deep in the Amazon rainforest. Combined with their powerful voices, Yawanawa music is now known around the world and the new generation of Yawanawa leaders travel the world to share the message of the forest through their ancestral prayers and phenomenal music
Matsini Yawanawá
Matsini is a spiritual leader, healer, and chief (cacique) of Aldeia Mutum, a village nestled deep within the Amazon Rainforest along the Jordão River in the state of Acre, Brazil. Born into an unbroken lineage of Pajés, Matsini has dedicated his life to the study, preservation, and transmission of the sacred teachings of the Yawanawá people.
From an early age, he began walking the spiritual path under the guidance of his father and the renowned Pajé Tata, immersing himself in sacred medicines, ceremonial practice, and the deep wisdom of his tradition. This lifelong dedication has granted him profound knowledge, spiritual authority, and the responsibility of carrying his lineage forward.
Today, Matsini is one of the most respected spiritual leaders of his people. Year-round in Aldeia Mutum, he opens the doors of his village to non-Indigenous seekers who wish to study alongside him and his family, offering spiritual diets, cultural immersions, ceremonial studies, and deep processes of transformation. He transmits his teachings primarily through storytelling, the traditional Yawanawá way of passing wisdom across generations.
Years ago, Matsini received a vision together with the Pajé to create a dedicated space for preserving and sharing Yawanawá culture, spirituality, and tradition. From that vision, the Samakey Center was born, a sacred place where participants can undertake spiritual diets, enter transformational processes, and connect deeply with the living wisdom of the forest. Many Yawanawá and non-Indigenous participants have completed diets at the Center, including the full one-year Muka initiation process.
His sisters made history as the first women of their people to become Pajés, a profound and historic shift within the tradition. His sons and daughters are also in deep spiritual study under his guidance, all of them gifted musicians with powerful voices who carry the lineage forward through music and ceremony.
Matsini serves as a true bridge between worlds, honoring the ancient while welcoming all who come with sincerity, respect, and an open heart.
Kuru Yawanawá
Kuru Yawanawá is the eldest son of Chief Matsini and a dedicated student of the spiritual and cultural traditions of his people. From a young age, he demonstrated a deep commitment to the ancestral wisdom of the Yawanawá, standing out as a talented singer and creator of melodies that resonate with the soul and strength of his culture. His powerful voice echoes not only in rituals but also inspires his community, particularly the younger generation, to value and preserve the spiritual heritage of their ancestors. Growing up under his father's guidance, Kuru was introduced early to the path of healing and the medicinal knowledge of the forest.
Throughout his journey, Kuru has undertaken various spiritual diets, transformative processes that demand discipline, sacrifice, and a profound connection with the spiritual realm. Kuru just completed the Muka diet, one of the most profound and challenging practices in the Yawanawá tradition, lasting an entire year. This diet symbolizes a rite of passage that strengthens spiritual and cultural knowledge, enhancing his abilities as a healer and leader. During this period, Kuru dedicated himself intensely to spiritual practice, sacrificing daily comforts to cultivate strength, clarity, and connection with the energies of the forest. Alongside his father, Chief Matsini, Kuru continues to build a legacy of leadership that blends tradition with renewal.
Kuru Yawanawá is not just a student of his tradition; he is an inspired artist, a guardian bringing the strength of his ancestors into the present and ensuring this spiritual heritage continues to thrive for generations to come.
Kenetsayny
Kenetsayny Yawanawá possesses a strong and striking voice, imbued with the strength of her ancestors. Born in the Mutum Village and daughter of Chief Matsini Yawanawá, she represents the feminine power that emerges through spiritual song. Her voice pierces the heart of ceremonies, connecting tradition, spirituality, and presence.
From a young age, Kenetsayny has dedicated her path to the study of Yawanawá spirituality and ancestral knowledge. Throughout her journey, she has undergone several traditional diets and spiritual preparations, deepening her connection with the sacred teachings, medicines, and traditions of her people. She is also a student of her aunt, Hushahu Yawanawá, from whom she continues to learn and receive guidance along her spiritual path.
Through her voice, her studies, and her dedication to her culture, Kenetsayny builds bridges between ancient knowledge and modern times, carrying forward the teachings of her ancestors and keeping alive the essence and spirit of the forest.
Angélica
Angélica Yawanawá, daughter of Chief Matsini Yawanawá and one of the outstanding young voices of the new generation, represents the contemporary flourishing of Yawanawá culture. Her presence inspires other young women to honor and strengthen their spiritual and cultural paths.
From a young age, Angélica has been immersed in the ancestral teachings of her people. Alongside her father, she has undergone different traditional spiritual diets and preparations, deepening her connection to Yawanawá spirituality and the knowledge passed down through generations.
With a striking and sensitive voice, Angélica has a natural gift for learning and performing Saitis, the traditional Yawanawá songs, carrying them with remarkable ease and strength. Through her singing, she shares ancestral knowledge as an expression of resistance, beauty, spirituality, and the strengthening of Indigenous identity.
As part of a new generation carrying these traditions forward, Angélica embodies the continuity of Yawanawá culture, honoring the wisdom of her ancestors while helping keep it alive for future generations.
The San Francisco Psychedelic Society is a global community devoted to empowering global psychedelic culture through accessible education, integration and connection. We activate our mission by providing educational courses, classes and a variety of weekly integration circles where people can learn how to use psychedelics safely and integrate them into their lives to steward deep transformation. We honor native medicines and the lineages that they come from. Our executive director Danielle Nova was on the founding team of Decriminalize Nature Oakland, passing the first historic resolution in the United States to deprioritize all entheogenic plants and fungi. We have provided education and integration services to over 25K individuals worldwide. We have a specialty of helping people recover from addiction through our Psychedelic Recovery program where we are creating a new model of how to understand, treat and heal addiction. We have been featured in notable news outlets such as CBS News Bay Area and MAPS Psychedelic Science Conference.
Event venue & nearby stays
The Source Chiropractic - Berkeley, 2438 Sacramento Street, Berkeley, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.