Cebaldo Inawinapi was born in Usdup, an island in the Guna Yala archipelago in Panama. When he was born, his father planted the placenta and the umbilical cord in the jungle across from the island. From this ritual, a tree sprouted.

In 1979, Cebaldo left for the Soviet Union, where he studied archaeology. It was there that he met a Portuguese woman who would later become his wife. In 1987, they moved to Portugal. Today he is an anthropologist, writer, poet, and researcher at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro.

He wrote “Mi primer árbol”, a bilingual book in Guna and Spanish about that initial ritual: when a Guna child is born, the umbilical cord is planted, along with a tree. He acted in the film “Panquiaco”, in which he portrays his own conflicts around belonging and return. He curated an exhibition at Casa da Améric ...