Characters

When we shot “The Nation That Didn’t Wait For God", Ademir was the community’s cacique (leader). He won the respect of the Kadiwéu people by leading the process of taking back their land which the farmers had long ago taken from them, and also by recruiting the youth of the community to fight this noble cause. When we shot “Brave New Land” in 1997 he was a boy that acted as one of the cavalier warriors in the movie.
The last time we were at the tribe, in April 2014, Ademir couldn’t leave the reservation because he had received a death threat from a farmer who had land in an area that the Kadiwéu were trying to take back. After that, starting in July, the threats were dropped and he began to have contact again with the cities that were closer. But, unfortunately, in December 2014, when the documentary was already done, Ademir was murdered inside the reservation by another Kadiwéu. His murderer was part of a group that was trying to rise to power inside the community. This group was against the taking back of the Kadiwéu land, they had another proposition for the land issue. In the documentary we offered him a tribute, because he has earned our admiration through his leadership capabilities, and because of the way he faced his tribe’s problems with wisdom and tranquility.

He was chosen because physically fitted well the “young warrior” role, and because he rode a horse very well – in “Brave New Land” he tames a horse without the need of a stunt man –, he was one of the most important characters in the movie. After we left, he auditioned for a role at Brazilian TV Station – Globo – that was going to produce a series that needed a fully indigenous cast. But Globo dropped the project so he went back to the tribe. He tried to go to college as well, through the indigenous quota, but couldn’t get admitted. During the shooting of “The Nation That Didn’t Wait For God” he was working as a driver for SESAI, and he was married to a white teacher from the tribes school.

He had a very important role during our research in the 90’s because he was one of the only older Kadiwéu that spoke Portuguese. From these older Kadiwéu men he was the only one alive when we went back to shoot “The Nation That Didn’t Wait For God”. And although he wasn’t related to the Cacique, due to his old age his thoughts and opinions are particularly respected.

Hilário had a very important role during the shooting of “Brave New Land”. He served as a bridge for us between white culture and the Kadiwéus as he was a student of nursing, and was also very interested in the history of the Kadiwéu. He researched with the “old ones” the Kadiwéu culture. Back then he was already connected to the Evangelic Church. And during the shooting of the “The Nation That Didn’t Wait For God” he worked as a nurse in the tribe, as well as at SESAI (Brazilian governmental institution of indigenous health) and was also a pastor of the most important evangelic church in the tribe. Right after we finished shooting he was asked to coordinate Mato Grosso do Sul’s SESAI at Campo Grande, state capital.

Wife to “Prince João”, who, at the time, was Cacique (leader) of the Kadiwéu and so he welcomed the anthropologists Levi-Strauss and Darcy Ribeiro. She knew the old Kadiwéu songs and most of their ancient rituals. Of all the older Kadiwéu we interviewed at the research stage, she was the only living woman during the shooting of “The Nation That Didn’t Wait For God”. She passed away right after at 102 years of age.

D. Lair's younger daughter, Sandra had two children from white boyfriends. Her kids were raised in the tribe as Kadiwéus, but after we shot “Brave New Land” they moved to Campo Grande and Sandra begun to work as a cleaning lady and a seamstress.

Edna is Vanessa’s younger sister. She was very young in the 90’s, but nonethe less she intensely participated during the preparation and shooting of “Brave New Land”. During the shooting of “The Nation That Didn’t Wait For God” she was at Bodoquena with her daughter, separated from her husband, taking technical courses and trying to get admitted to the university through the indigenous quota. Her objective is to study Communication and work with Kadiwéu culture.

Adeilson is Sandra’s half white son. He played the “white boy” that was kidnapped by the Kadiwéu in “Brave New Land”. During the research period he seemed to identify a lot with the Kadiwéu community. He went to Campo Grande right after that, at age 13. Today he is well adapted to the capital, where he works at a gas station. He intends to go back to school.

She was 13 when we met her during our research in the 90’s. In “Brave New Land” she played the indigenous hero that gets murdered by white men. Right after the shooting was over, she married a white man and had a child in Bodoquena. During the shooting of “The Nation That Didn’t Wait For God” she was separated, lived in a house from the “Minha casa, minha vida” (a Brazilian social project financed by the government), but she spent most of her time at her mother’s house. She works at City Hall, which is very frequented by the Kadiwéu people.