With its natural exuberance recognized the world over, the Amazon is also a storehouse of cultural riches. People like the masters Curica and Damasceno, from Pará, and Sacaca, from Amapá, are the very expression of the region's resistance and creativity. With lives dedicated to music and popular culture, they synthesize the Afro-indigenous and caboclo heritage that shapes the North and influences the whole of Brazil.

Proof of that is the choice of Estação Primeira de Mangueira, from Rio de Janeiro, one of the most traditional samba schools in the country, which has announced the story of Mestre Sacaca, who died in 1999, as its storyline for Carnival 2026. Entitled “Mestre Sacaca do Encanto Tucuju - O Guardião da Amazônia Negra” [Master Sacaca of Tucuju Enchantment - The Guardian of the Black Amazon], the parade will delve into the Afro-indigenous ancestry of Amapá through the life and knowledge of the healer Raimundo dos Santos Souza, or Sacaca. 

Born in Macapá, he received this nickname for his knowledge of Amazonian medicinal plants. Of black and indigenous origin, Sacaca became known as the “doctor of the forest” because he used “garrafadas” [drinks made from medicinal plants, often macerated in alcohol or another liquid, and used in folk medicine], teas and sympathies to treat illnesses and promote community health, pursuing balance between science and spirituality.

Master Sacaca also embraced Amapá's popular festivals. He was “King Momo” for over 20 years, created carnival blocks, helped found samba schools and was a defender of Marabaixo, an Afro-Amapá manifestation that mixes music, dance and rituals.

CENTENARY

The tribute comes at a special time: in 2026, Sacaca would have turned 100 years old, which adds even more symbolic weight to his national recognition. “This choice represents a lot of Amapá's culture, our way of being: simple, caboclo, quilombola, black and indigenous,” says Fábio Souza, the healer's grandson.

Dô Sacaca, the honoree's son, also expressed his gratitude for the samba school choice of storyline. "It's an honor to see his name being carried by a school like Mangueira, which will echo throughout Brazil and the world. This helps to keep his legacy alive," he said.

According to Sidnei França, the green and pink school's carnival designer, dealing with Afro-indigenous customs is unprecedented in the history of the Rio de Janeiro school. "Even in Brazil, a monolithic view of the Amazon still often prevails, with many narratives and characters still unexplored or not given due attention. With its vocation to tell ‘other stories’, Mangueira will present Mestre Sacaca, a legitimate representative of this Afro-indigenous forest," he says

HOMAGES

In Macapá, the Sacaca Museum keeps the master's memory alive. The space is run by the Instituto de Pesquisas Científicas e Tecnológicas do Amapá (IEPA) [Institute for Scientific and Technological Research] from Amapá state government and attracts a diverse public, including tourists, schools and local residents. According to Adriana Rodrigues, the site's coordinator, the presence of people interested in the healer's story is constant. “The number of visitors has increased in recent years,” she affirms.

The institution has a memorial dedicated to the master, where one can learn about his career by means of personal objects donated by his family and a documentary film. "It's an honor for all of us to see Mestre Sacaca being recognized nationally with the Mangueira tribute. We are going to proudly represent the traditional knowledge of the Amazon," highlights the coordinator of the space.

For 2026, the museum is planning a special program in partnership with the family of the musician, defender of Marabaixo, to mark the 100th anniversary of Sacaca's birth. The aim is to celebrate all the stages of the master's life. “We want to recollect all the culture and legacy left by him, which remains alive in our way of life, respect for nature and Amazonian ancestry,” emphasizes Adriana.

Mestre Curica is a reference for ‘guitarrada’ in Pará

While in Amapá, Sacaca's centenary is mobilizing local artists and echoing across the country, in Pará, masters of popular music keep in full swing. One of the main names in this movement is Raimundo Leão Ferreira Filho, Mestre Curica, a reference in Pará “guitarrada” [fusion of rhythms in a guitar solo] and an example of innovation in Amazonian music.

He was born in 1949, in Marituba, a municipality in the Metropolitan Region of Belém. He immersed himself in the musical world from an early age. His father was a banjo player and, at the age of nine, Curica already played the drums. Over time, he mastered the banjo and then developed the “guitarrinha cabocla”, a musical instrument that mixes banjo and electric guitar and which has become the artist's trademark.

Besides this innovative creation, Curica stands out for composing lyrics for his songs, something rare in a predominantly instrumental genre. The “guitarrinha” has a different tuning and a more metallic sound, which fits in perfectly with our rhythms, such as carimbó, merengue and cumbia. It also goes well with good lyrics," he explains.

In the 2000s, he founded the "Mestres da Guitarrada" project, alongside musicians from Pará Aldo Sena and Mestre Vieira (who died in 2018). The trio also helped bring the Amazonian sound to the national and international stage.

TRAJECTORY

At the age of 75, of which more than 60 have been dedicated to his art, Curica has performed in seven countries, including Portugal, Mexico and Germany. He was recognized as the best banjo player in the world at a festival on the island of Madeira. The musician has more than 2,700 compositions and has lost count of how many artists have recorded his songs.

Even though he's come a long way, Curica isn't even thinking of retiring and still keeps alive his mission of training new talents. "Music can't die. You have to cultivate what you've learned and always try to do your best. “I teach so that the students can play better than me. That's what keeps me going," he says.

DAMASCENO

In the Marajó archipelago, Damasceno Gregório dos Santos, also from Pará, artistically known as Mestre Damasceno, has become a reference in carimbó, “toadas” [music and poetry associated with cultural manifestations] and oral poetry. Born in 1954, in the quilombola community of Salvá, in Salvaterra, he lost his sight at the age of 19, after an accident at work, and found in popular culture the way to reinvent his view of the world. "I had the gift. With the loss of my sight, I needed to find another way of looking at life. Popular culture was my path to reconstruction," he recalls.

Composer, carimbó singer, “repentista” [impromptu composer] and master of the Marajoara tradition, Damasceno is also the creator of Búfalo-Bumbá, a June event that mixes popular theater, quilombola culture and elements of Amazonian nature. With more than 400 compositions to his name and six albums recorded, he is a symbol of resistance and cultural strength in the north of Brazil. "I was the first bumbá master in the archipelago. We have to keep insisting that this culture never ends," he says.

Throughout his 70 years of life, with five decades dedicated to Marajoara culture, Mestre Damasceno has collected important signs of recognition. In 2023, his work was declared an intangible cultural heritage of the state of Pará, by Law No. 10,141. He was also honored by the Paraíso do Tuiuti Samba School, at the Rio de Janeiro Carnival, which took the Búfalo-Bumbá to Sapucaí. In the same year, he received the Eneida de Moraes Commendation, the Mestre Verequete Medal and the title of Citizen of Belém, among other distinctions.

In 2025, the master was awarded the title of Comendador da Ordem do Mérito Cultural [Commander of the Order of Cultural Merit], the highest honor of the Ministry of Culture, at an official ceremony in Rio de Janeiro. His music, full of life and memory, continues to echo throughout Pará and beyond, reminding everyone that “culture is a value that never dies, because it is renewed with every song, drum and dance”, defends Damasceno.

Knowledge inspires Amazon youth

The trajectory of the masters reverberates in the new generations of Amazonian artists. An example of this is 26-year-old percussionist and banjo player Marcelino Santos. A resident of Belém, he fell in love with carimbó at the age of 11, when he saw a group perform at the church he attended. Later, he met Curica in person and began to learn from him. “I was just starting to play the banjo and he offered to give me some tips,” he recalls.

More than technique, contact with the idol is a lesson in values. "He taught me to take life lightly, to value our roots and to transmit happiness through music. This has shaped my vision as an artist," says Marcelino, who is now a member of carimbó groups and has the honor of playing alongside the masters of Amazonian culture, including Curica.

EXPANSION

For Cláudia Palheta, a PhD in Social History of the Amazon and also a carnivalesque professional, Mangueira's parade has the potential to increase national recognition of the masters who shape the region's popular knowledge. "Samba school carnival is a powerful chronicler of the country. When it goes all the way to the North to recognize culture makers, it allows the whole of Brazil to become aware of the importance of these figures," she says.

She believes this kind of tribute has a double effect: as well as informing the public in other regions, it also provokes pride and recognition among the Amazonians themselves. “The samba school acts as this external agent that exalts and awakens,” she bets.

Regarding Curica, Damasceno and Sacaca, the researcher defines them as “instruments for transmitting the voice of the forest”, whether through healing potions or music. "The masters have the magical gift of interacting with nature, of listening and feeling what it is. This is what makes their knowledge so fundamental to the Amazon," she points out.

According to Cláudia Palheta, Amazonian culture is a constant movement. "We're not talking about a pristine sanctuary. It feeds on bois bumbás and quadrilhas from the Northeast, creates noble June birds from the European court and transforms samba schools into the carnival of Pará. This region chews and regurgitates cultures, lives and produces non-stop," she concludes.

EVENT AGENDA

On the 27th and 28th of this month, Mestre Curica will bring the sound of the Amazonian guitar to the third edition of the Master Cordas Festival in Cape Verde. The event celebrates the 50th anniversary of the African country's independence, and Mestre Curica will spend his 76th birthday, on June 26, the way he likes it: traveling, working and bringing joy to people with music.

Mestre Damasceno, on the other hand, will be honored by the Pará State Government at the 28th edition of the Feira Pan-Amazônica do Livro e das Multivozes [Pan-Amazon Book and Multivoice Fair], alongside writer and poet Wanda Monteiro, in August this year.

Both artists are still active and have tried to pass on their cultures. "I always longed to see my work valued during my lifetime. Not out of vanity, but so that future generations recognize the value of our culture and keep it alive," emphasizes Mestre Curica.
 

INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERSHIP
The production of Liberal Amazon is one of the initiatives of the Technical Cooperation Agreement between the Liberal Group and the Federal University of Pará. The articles involving research from UFPA are revised by professionals from the academy. The translation of the content is also provided by the agreement, through the research project ET-Multi: Translation Studies: multifaces and multisemiotics.