Ailton Krenak

Ailton Krenak is a Brazilian Indigenous leader, environmentalist and writer of the Krenak people of the Doce River valley in Minas Gerais. He became nationally known in 1987 when, speaking at the Constituent Assembly, he painted his face black in protest against threats to Indigenous rights. His short book Ideas to Postpone the End of the World (2019) criticises the idea that humans are separate from nature and that 'humanity' means a consumer way of life. In 2023 he became the first Indigenous person elected to the Brazilian Academy of Letters.

Key ideas

• The separation of humanity from nature is a damaging fiction; rivers, mountains and forests are kin.
• For many Indigenous peoples the 'end of the world' has already happened, and they have survived it by keeping their ways of life.
• Postponing the end of the world means telling more stories and keeping many different ways of being human.
• 'Sustainability' as sold by corporations is a myth that keeps the consumer economy going.

Major works

• Ideas to Postpone the End of the World (2019)
• O amanhã não está à venda (2020)
• Life Is Not Useful (2020)
• Ancestral Future (2022)

In the Book corner

• Ideas to Postpone the End of the World 2019 · Beginner
  A short book by the Brazilian Indigenous leader of the Krenak people, adapted from talks and published in Portuguese in 2019; Anthony…

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