Join us for this very special event in support of indigenous women

By purchasing tickets for this event, you will be entered into a raffle for the last remaining spot in the SOLD‑OUT inaugural session of Ferment Academia, a 5‑day residency with Sandor Ellix Katz and special guests in Portugal

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Recording will be available 28 February 2026

Every $5 donated is enters you in a drawing to Ferment Academia

Paula Neubauer, founder of FERMENT ACADEMIA and Get Pickled Somerset, together with The Fermentation School, invite you to a panel with nhandesy Dona Fausta and nhandesy Dona Roseli — women elders and guardians of chicha, whose practice connects the land, fermentation, and ancestral ritual knowledge.

We at The Fermentation School and Get Pickled Somerset,  continue our support for the Guarani‑Kaiowá communities of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

We once again invite them to share their thoughts and understanding behind their fermentation practices and how these connect with the broader Guarani‑Kaiowá cosmology. We will host a panel with two nhandesy in Tekoha Ñanderu Marangatu — the community where Paula first encountered chicha making with Dona Fausta in 2023.

Tekoha Ñanderu Marangatu

We will also be introducing a new community to this programme —bringing in an elder from Tekoha Ñanderu Marangatu, a tekoha (ancestral land) that has been on the frontline of recent conflicts involving authorities, landowners, and militias in Mato Grosso do Sul.

Tekoha Ñanderu Marangatu lies near one of the few remaining pockets of Atlantic Forest in this part of Brazil, where the nhandesy and nhanderu can fulfil their roles as guardians of the forest. In this sense, an important part of our panel is to explore how the nhandesy see their role amid the climate crisis and how ancestral fermentation traditions are part of sustaining culture and community for future generations.


Context

COP30 and Indigenous Participation

In November 2025, COP30 was hosted in Belém, Pará, in the Amazon region of Brazil. Indigenous representatives and organisations criticised limited access to the main event and the marginalisation of Indigenous voices in key discussions — as they are on the frontline of climate change impact and environmental degradation.

The broader political context includes ongoing legislative and judicial battles over Indigenous land rights in Brazil, particularly around the so‑called Marco Temporal (Time Frame) doctrine and related legal changes. The Marco Temporal is a controversial interpretation that would restrict Indigenous land claims to areas occupied on 5 October 1988, when Brazil’s current Constitution took effect. Critics — including Indigenous organisations and international human rights bodies — argue that this fails to recognise forced removals and displacement that occurred well before that date.

Why this matters

In 2023, Brazil’s Congress passed Law 14,701, which effectively adopted the Marco Temporal principle into federal legislation, despite a previous Supreme Federal Court (STF) ruling that the Marco Temporal thesis was unconstitutional. The law imposes additional restrictions on land demarcation and threatens the ability of Indigenous peoples to have their traditional territories recognised and protected.

This legal framework has exacerbated conflicts and contributed to rising violence in Indigenous territories, especially in Mato Grosso do Sul, where Guarani‑Kaiowá communities have faced attacks by militias and armed groups linked to local land owners.

For instance, in September 2024, violent confrontations took place at the Nhanderu Marangatu territory following land reclamation efforts. During a police action at the retaken territory, a young Guarani‑Kaiowá land defender, was killed and many more injured.

Tekoha Ñanderu Marangatu and Land Rights

In late 2024, after years of struggle, the federal government arranged an agreement with ranchers who had occupied part of the Tekoha Ñanderu Marangatu land. The ranchers received compensation to withdraw from the territory, allowing the land to be formally returned to the Guarani‑Kaiowá community. This outcome has been described as a landmark in securing the territory, though many Indigenous and human rights organisations criticise compensation arrangements that effectively reward illegal occupation of Indigenous lands.

Previous events in this series

Paula Neubauer, founded Get Pickled Somerset, a food community that focuses on educating and enriching lives through a circular economy. Paula says: “We do this by teaching people how to produce delicious, sustainable food cheaply. “We began our life as a fermented food producer and we have gradually, and enthusiastically, been bringing fermentation skills to the UK – from many different culinary traditions. “We started out running stalls at markets in Somerset and creating pop-ups around southwest England, but now we run workshops and private tuition classes. So where did this obsession with all things fermented start? The Get Pickled business was born out of Paula’s passion for preserving food, the community and our planet – and a genuine desire to create more out of fresh ingredients. A move out of London, combined with UK lockdown 1.0, provided the catalysts for turning a cloudy, life-long dream into a clear reality. Paula, the UK-imported, Brazilian super-cook and globetrotting uber-feeder, finally had the time and space to cook up an enterprise that advocated and embodied her passions. Inspired by her two beloved grannies, one from the Amazon and the other from Italy, Paula uses her wild imagination to transform humdrum, surplus food into flavorsome, invigorating, vegan-friendly fermented foods, condiments, and pickles. https://getpickledsomerset.com/

Paula Neubauer

Collaborator