Watching: Where Did the Swallows Go?

Overview

The climate is changing, and the Indigenous peoples of the Xingu Indigenous Park, in Mato Grosso, Brazil, are reading the signs everywhere. Trees no longer bloom when they should, fires spread through the forest, the cicadas that once announced the rains have fallen silent, and crops spoil before they ripen. The swallows that used to herald the rainy season no longer appear in the sky. Surrounded by decades of deforestation for soy, corn and cattle, the Xingu peoples look at these devastating changes and wonder what kind of future awaits their grandchildren.