Indigenous Artists from Brazil Give Fortnite’s Original Map a Personalised Makeover

Non-governmental organisation SOS Amazônia, in partnership with Brazilian agency Leo Burnett TM and HeroBase, has just launched a new phase of the Originary Map campaign, the first Fortnite map that brings references and characteristics of indigenous lands into the game reality. This time, with a boost: personalised posters developed with the collaboration of indigenous people from the Huni Kuin ethnic group, from Brazil.

To stress the importance of protecting forests and indigenous peoples, indigenous youths gathered at the SOS Amazônia headquarters in the city Rio Branco, Acre (in northern Brazil), and recorded phrases in the original Hãtxa Kuin language that make up the game's posters. These phrases call people to play, finish the game's missions and take part in the online activism proposed by Fortnite, in-game as well as in the real world.

Verses such as 'Txi Nukawa' (Put out the fire), 'Nawabu inú nitxiã' (Expel the mining) and 'Nukú mae mekesukawê' (Protect the indigenous lands) are the highlights of the posters, along with drawings of graphisms, known as 'kenes', also made by Huni Kuin leaders. The 'kenes' represent the culture, the ancestry and the relationship with the forest, such as the boa constrictor mesh, the fish bone and the alligator tail. Additionally, streamer Letiltz (@letiltz) did a special live on the subject, further raising awareness of related environmental and social issues.

The Originary Map was initially launched in July 2023 to young people from the Huni Kuin community in Acre. Following that, the initiative became available to the general public on August 9th, when the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is celebrated. The project is signed in partnership with the Federation of the Huni Kuin People of Acre (FEPHAC, in Portuguese), but does not represent a particular ethnic group – it rather creates a representation of common conflicts experienced by various indigenous groups in the Amazon region.

To find out more, contribute and donate to the Young Communicators project, visit here. The project aims to develop young people's skills in using communication tools and disseminating themes such as climate justice, environmental racism, territory and the Amazon, increasing the impact and reach of their messages.