Mekranoti : living among the Painted People of the Amazon

The Belgiun anthropologist, Gustaaf Verswijver, waited years for the opportunity to make a systematic study of one of the most remote peoples on earth - the Mekranoti, the remaining members of a tribal group living on the central Brazilian plateau.

The experience was to change his life.This narrative, based on his journals, is illustrated by Verswijver's own photographs chronicling three years of life and death in the tropical rain forest.

In place of clothing, the Mekranoti cover their bodies with elaborately painted motifs.

The narrative and photographs describe and capture the people hunting small mammals, large turtles and the occasional jaguar, spending days in their village, living their day-to-day lives and enjoying seasonal activities, celebrations and ceremonies.Living simply in the jungle, the Mekranoti accepted Verswijver with kindness, as he learnt their language and social habits.

They finally adopted him formally into the family of their chief.

Only gradually in his narrative does Verswijver come to realize that he is the last witness able to give a living account of a culture that is on the brink of extinction.