hundred most important brazilians together with soccer star kak model gisele bndchen and writer paulo coelho he is a member of two government commissions and during the elections in the summer he will be standing for a parliamentary seat as a member of the green party his other world is lapetanha the place of his birth in the reservation the village where he was elected chief at the age of 17 because his father had been a chief before him and perhaps also because they sensed that he was somewhat special in this world the people eat grubs and only got electricity four years ago here he paints dots and lines on his face and body during religious festivals the remains of which can be seen as faint blue coloring shimmering on his skin this is the world which was rocked by modernity 41 years ago when workers cleared a path through the forest as a prelude to the construction of a highway this road brought with it settlers cattle cars and telephones today in many settlements you can find a chest freezer in which the villagers put the peccaries they hunted with bows and arrows this other world begins at the end of the fields where the forest suddenly grows dense again only a narrow track leads to the village comprising a few huts a school a church three computers and 102 inhabitants almir surui parks his pickup outside the wooden house of his parents marimop his 87yearold father is lying in a hammock wearing a green crepe shirt and orange shorts his mother is squatting on the ground drilling holes in an armadillo shell both have two blue lines across their face almirs father explains that it is the symbol of the surui and that all men and women used to have this tattoo but young people dont want that anymore i ask him what has changed since his people were involuntarily connected to the outside world the spirits used to keep the forest and the weather in harmony the old man explains but the spirits are no longer what they used to be in the time of great tranquility in other words before 1969 the loss of tranquility was accompanied by a loss of tradition primarily pride outsiders sneered that the surui were stupid and indolent and they became embarrassed to call themselves indigenous people since then they have been at pains to appear as brazilian as possible whenever they travel to the city they wear carefully ironed shirts and meticulously polished shoes those who can afford to tile their terrace a handful even own a car and the most important person in the village is no longer the shaman but a man from germany every wednesday the missionary comes to the village to preach though mostly about the apocalypse and genesis because little else has been translated looking at the chief sitting between his parents you can imagine what a huge leap he must have