RAPOSA, Brazil -- Summer evenings in the community of Raposa are golden and
gentle. Half-wild horses wander in from the fields to feed on mangos that have
fallen from huge trees in front of St. Isidore’s Catholic Church. A few young
Makushi grab rakes to push the mangos into piles out of harm’s way. The setting
sun seems so close, a giant ball of fire slipping behind the mountains that ring
the prairie where the Makushi live. Makushi tradition says life exists as a kind
of force — stkaton — that comes from the sun. It’s hard to disagree.