For more than 60 years, Díli lived with his first wife, Wãñkome, who passed away a few years ago. Today, their children have assumed positions of importance in the Laklãnõ-Xokleng community.

In the almost 70 years since initial contact, the Xokleng have suffered enormous stresses from the Brazilian colonizers, who now occupy most of their traditional hunting territory. Catholic missionaries filled their minds with new ideas; a road was built through their reserve; and along with the road came Brazilian traders and diseases. Many young people have already lost interest in the traditional ways. During this whole traumatic period, one reference point remained steadfast, an anchor in a sea of changes. That anchor was Díli do Macuco.

During all these years, Díli never learned Portuguese, and people suspected it was a deliberate refusal. For Díli, the Laklãnõ language was a symbol of his identity. Only when I finally learned to converse in Laklãnõ-Xokleng was I able to realize the vastness of Díli’s knowledge. By 1981 and 1982, he was the only living Laklãnõ-Xokleng who could recite the entire origin myth by heart, and as I walked with him through the forests, I could see that the myth was still alive in him, shaping his vision and understanding of the world. It was as if the origin myth revealed a purpose amidst the chaos of change; the transformations were made intelligible as part of the natural processes of life.