Edson Krenak Naknanuk

Meet Edson Krenak Naknanuk (Krenak - Vanuire clan) Edson, Cultural Survival’s Lead on Brazil, is an Indigenous activist, writer, and doctoral student at the University of Vienna, Austria, where he develops studies in legal anthropology. He holds a degree in linguistics and literary theory from the Federal University of São Carlos in Brazil. He works as a speaker and trainer at the Uka Institute in Brazil. As a writer, he won the 10th National Tamoios Award for Indigenous Writers in Brazil with the book O Sonho de Borum, and his short story "Kren and Pockrane, Why there are no twins among the Krenak People" (Original in Portuguese) is part of the 2018 book indicated by UNICEF “Nós - Anthology of Indigenous Tales".

One of his passions is teaching and education. Edson has been teaching languages, literature, and decolonized history in middle school and high school in Brazil and Austria. For ten years he worked in Brazil with the Indigenous rights movement promoting Indigenous cultures and Indigenous literature in schools, universities, and cultural institutes. He strives to internationalize the Indigenous rights movement in Brazil, to make international connections to overcome language barriers, and to defend Mother Earth.

Edson came to Cultural Survival to support various layers of our work including advocacy, capacity building, and to support the Keepers of the Earth Fund. He says, “I am excited about this job because Cultural Survival has a long history in Brazil and my main objective is to contribute to making this story full of milestones and significant achievements for Indigenous Peoples of Cerrado, Caatinga, Amazonia and Mata Atlantica, the main biomes protected by Indigenous Peoples in the country.” Edson's ancestors are known as Botocudos. He speaks Portuguese, Spanish, English, and German.