‘We are treading heavily on the Earth’: Ailton Krenak on consumerism, shock tactics and how to sleep in a hammock

Since his groundbreaking address to the Brazilian congress in 1987, the 72-year-old Indigenous leader has challenged assumptions and championed rights, urging us to ‘have the courage to change’ After 21 years of military dictatorship in Brazil, it was a pivotal moment. Wearing a suit and tie, Ailton Krenak, then an Indigenous leader in his 30s, stepped on to the rostrum in congress. It was 1987, a new constitution was being drafted for the re-established democracy – and Indigenous people were...

By Júlia Dias Carneiro in Rio de Janeiro