ACT NOVEMBER UPDATE November, 2003

Dear Friends,

ACT Executive Director Liliana Madrigal is en route to Colombia with Carlos Salinas and Shayne Gardner, a new consultant at ACT Headquarters. They will be meeting with the Northwest Amazon Administration team to further refine accounting and reporting procedures. Leaders of some of the indigenous communities with whom we have the honor to work will be traveling to Bogotá to evaluate ongoing efforts and future directions.

In October, Carolina Alcover and the Brazil mapping team spent two weeks wrapping up the third Xingu mapping workshop. The Xingu mapping process is now in its final phase. One of the paramount chiefs informed Brazil Director Vasco van Roosmalen that this was the first time all 14 tribes of the Xingu had collaborated on a single project!

As part of a multifaceted project supported by the John & Marcia Goldman Foundation, ACT recently conducted a workshop toward the recovery of the traditional music of the Coreguaje Indians. Two elders taught 12 Coreguaje Indians to make traditional instruments and to perform traditional songs. The elders also taught better ways to make their traditional cusmas (dress), ceremonial collars, and rattles. This effort has inspired a series of requests from other tribes to ACT to sponsor similar cultural conservation projects.

Botanist Bruce Hoffman recently traveled to Suriname to begin his research in the southern part of the country. Aided by field assistant Beverly De Vries, he will be living with the Tirio Indians to study their use of the forest and to help them better protect their traditional lands.

As the Holiday Season fast approaches, ACT wishes to ask all of our friends and supporters to consider making a donation to ACT in honor of your friends or family as a holiday gift. For donations of $100 and above, we will send a card to your friends that states "A Gift in your Honor was made by {your name here}. Happy Holidays!"

You can send a check to us directly, or make the donation through our webpage at www.amazonteam.org.

We too are blessed by our widening circle of friends. As always, thank you for your support and confidence in our work!

The Amazon Conservation Team