Funding cut threatens archive collaboration in Brazil
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In 2023, a team began the Rowasu’u collaborative digital archive in Central Brazil to return anthropological research materials to the A’uwẽ (Xavante, Indigenous) communities they document.
The project involved twenty A’uwẽ researchers nominated by their communities, who received training in digital archiving and worked alongside the project team. These researchers and community leaders formed an oversight committee to guide the archive’s structure and content, hoping it would preserve their history and culture for future generations.
However, in April 2025, the National Science Foundation cancelled three years of funding for Rowasu’u, causing shock and uncertainty for both the project team and the A’uwẽ collaborators. The A’uwẽ have experienced previous projects being abandoned or delayed, leading some to view the funding cut as predictable and others to question the project’s future. The team halted fieldwork and struggled to reassure the A’uwẽ of their continued commitment, fearing the archive would be added to a history of unfinished promises.
The loss of funding coincided with the passing of Angélica Wautõmõ’uptabi’õ Xavante, a valuable knowledge-holder and mother of two project researchers, in April 2026. While recordings of her knowledge remain, her death underscores the irretrievable loss of wisdom that accompanies project interruptions. The team now works to rebuild trust and secure new funding to continue the archive, recognizing the risk of being seen as another unreliable outsider.
