Introduction: A Journey of Culture, Research, and Advocacy

Hi! My name is David Good, also known as Ãyõpëwë in Yanomami land. Welcome to my first blog post for Shabono Media.

As a producer and partner at Shabono Media, and the founder and executive director of the Yanomami Foundation, I stand between two worlds: the Yanomami family in the Amazon and the Western society where I was raised. My life’s work is about bridging these worlds to preserve Yanomami culture and land, as well as share what their way of life can teach all of us.

This space is where I’ll share my stories from the jungle, reflections on current issues facing the Yanomami, and updates from my research as a microbiome scientist. My work dives into the microbial worlds of the Yanomami communities, including my own family members, whose microbiomes hold lessons about health, resilience, and what it means to live in balance with nature, but also to shed light on their increasingly changing world. In some communities, that change is rapid.

I was not always proud to embrace my Yanomami heritage. For years, I struggled with questions of identity and belonging. But my return to the Amazon in 2011, and my reunion with my mother after two decades apart, gave me a renewed sense of purpose. Today, my scientific research and advocacy are inseparable from my personal and professional journeys. My Yanomami relatives are not just “subjects” of research; they are my partners and co-producers of scientific knowledge, the masters of the rainforest who understand its cycles more deeply than any scientist.

As a partner at Shabono Media, I see digital media as a way to share stories that matter to me and my family. But I don’t see these tools as mine alone. I want to help create pathways for the Yanomami to have greater creative control and representation so they can tell their own stories in their own voices. I feel the same about science and research. Through the Yanomami Foundation, my hope is to keep building bridges to bring our worlds together through storytelling, sharing knowledge, and friendships.

Through this blog, I want to raise awareness about the critical work of the Yanomami Foundation, share insights from my research, and offer stories of both hardship and hope. My goal is to spark a deeper understanding of why protecting Indigenous cultures and the Amazon rainforest is vital for the Yanomami as well as for all of us.

Thank you for joining me on this journey.

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