The forest is alive. It will only die if the whites insist on destroying it. If they succeed, the rivers will disappear beneath the earth, the ground will crumble, the trees will wither, and the rocks will crack in the heat.

The parched earth will be empty and silent. The Xapiri spirits, who come down from the mountain to play in the forest, will flee far away.

Davi Kopenawa, Yanomami shaman