In Brazil, the Jequitinhonha Valley, where the four Maxakali territories are located, has suffered a dramatic rise in temperatures in recent years. Twenty Brazilian cities registered temperatures five degrees Celsius (nine degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the average daily maximum. The city of Araçua even shattered the record for the hottest temperature in Brazil’s history in November of that year. More than 85 percent of the Atlantic Forest has been destroyed. In Minas Gerais, experts estimate, less than eight percent remains. Brazil's dictatorship set the stage for even greater destruction of the region's tropical forests. In less than nine months, 24,475 wildfires were tallied — far exceeding the previous record high in the whole of 2021. Grass fires can spread four times as quickly as forest fires, leading the Maxakali to nickname the invasive plant “kerosene”. Some experts consider the Atlantic Forest to be regionally extinct. Singing organises life in Maxakali villages: music is used to cure illness, teach history or transmit practical instructions. Twelve musical canons, distinct in grammar and lexicon, total about 360 hours of song. Contained in the lyrics are hundreds of species of flora and fauna now extinct in the territory. Nursery caretakers sing to seeds as they are buried. The song lyrics help participants remember the ecological knowledge of their ancestors. Since its inception in 2023, the Hmhi project has planted over 60 hectares (148 acres) of fruit trees and 383 acres of Atlantic Forest vegetation. Programme participants have organised themselves into a provisional fire brigade.
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how to get rid of the fucking grass