Uncontacted Indians face annihilation
The Awá are one of the last nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes in Brazil. More than 60 Awá have no contact with outsiders.
Although most live in legally recognized reserves, the Awá are hemmed into ever smaller spaces as loggers, settlers and cattle ranchers invade their land and cut down their forest.
The Awá live in at least four territories, and although these have been mapped out, and in theory are protected for the Indians’ exclusive use, much of the Awá’s forest is being heavily invaded and destroyed. The government has failed to expel and penalise the loggers, ranchers and colonists who now occupy their land.
A group of cattle ranchers is illegally occupying a large part of Awá land where some uncontacted groups are known to live. In the past gunmen employed by ranchers nearby have killed any Awá they came across, and there is a serious risk that similar atrocities could take place once more.
Hundreds of settlers have illegally invaded the Awá territory and formed three large settlements. Loggers have built a network of roads through the territory and are operating very near one Awá community.
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| Loggers are seen in forest on Awá territory. Illegal forest destruction could soon make it impossible for the tribe to survive. © Bruno Kelly/Greenpeace |
Satellite images reveal that over 30% of the forest in the Awá territory has been destroyed since 1985. In 2009 it underwent the highest level of deforestation of all the indigenous territories in the Amazon.
Hunting is now very difficult for the Awá as Pire’i Awá explains:
‘The loggers are destroying everything in my land. The trucks come in, they take all the trees, the trucks make a lot of noise, and the wild pigs run away.. I can’t find any game any more, I can’t find anything… I am very angry with the loggers, extremely angry, there’s no game for me to hunt, and my children are hungry.’
In another part of the Awá’s territory known as the Araribóia reserve, groups of heavily armed loggers have destroyed much of the forest. The uncontacted Awá known to live here have not been spotted for months.
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| The Carajás mine and railway signalled the start of migration to the Awá territories, Brazil. © Peter Frey/Survival |
Yet another part of the Awá’s territory has been invaded by colonists who have settled along the Carajás railway and penetrated into the depths of the forest.
All this means that those Awá who have been contacted find life in the forest increasingly difficult and are being hemmed into ever smaller parts of their land as the forest is destroyed.
The uncontacted members of the tribe face even greater dangers, and some may already have been killed.
Your support is vital if the Awá are to survive. There are many ways you can help.
