Throughout the last 100 years, the Aw? have been the victims of vicious and systematic extermination attempts by ranchers and settlers. Many of those who are in contact with outsiders are the survivors of massacres and are severely traumatised - and we know that many more of the nomadic Aw? are survivors of the same and similar attacks. They will continue to be vulnerable as long as their land has no protection. In 1982, Brazil undertook to demarcate all Indian territories in the region as a condition of a World Bank loan for an industrial project, and World Bank money was put aside for this. Yet even now, the Aw? area has not been demarcated - and the increasing encroachment by industrial projects, ranchers and settlers is exposing the surviving Aw? to violence and disease.

The Awa (Aw?) are an indigenous group of about 300 people living in the eastern Amazon forests of Brazil. Originally living in settlements, they adopted a nomadic lifestyle in about 1800 to escape incursions by Europeans. During the nineteenth century, they came under increasing attack by settlers in the region, who devastated their natural habitat; nevertheless, it is only since the mid-1980s that some Aw? have agreed to live in government established settlements. For the most part, however, they live in small groups of a few dozen that hunt and forage the forests for their livelihood. Despite an agreement by Brazil that it would demarcate indigenous lands as a precondition for obtaining a World Bank loan, no efforts have been made to protect the Aw? territory, thereby threatening the continued existence of the group. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)

The Awa Guaja are a group of hereto unknown South American natives who were recently contacted. They live in the North East of Brazil, in the Maranhao State, at the heart of the Tiracambu sierra. Maintaining their basic lifestyle takes the Awa only a few hours a day. The women harvest bananas, roots and wild berries, while the men hunt and fish. The Awa Guaja lived in isolation until the arrival of the railroad linking the capital of Sao Luis to the mines in Carajas.

Today, their rainforest environment has almost been entirely destroyed, which forces them to run from farm to farm. For several years they were even targets for bounty hunters. Hired guns were paid $60 per Indian head by unscrupulous landowners and speculators. They are in severe danger of being wiped out altogether. The remaining Awa Guaja are scattered in small groups. Today FUNAI, the Brazilian office in charge of indigenous affairs, does its best to protect them.

According to FUNAI, there are still forty or fifty isolated groups of native South Americans, scattered all over the Amazon.

Naked, armed only with their bows and arrows and always on the move, they are very difficult to locate. They probably know about the outside world as, at one time or another, in the course of their recent history, they have come into conflict with our society. They have heard about boat engines and perhaps seen an airplane loudly passing through their sky like a strange angry eagle. What they don’t know is that there are billions of us. They think of us as another tribe, just a little larger than their own.

They are among the very last people in the world still maintaining their traditional lifestyle exactly as it has been for thousands of years, as it was for instance when the Portuguese explorer Cabral landed in Brazil in 1500. It is estimated that there were about 5 million native Americans in Brazil at the time. Today there are no more than 250,000 left, who are struggling to survive. Despite this, the Awa Guaja have never lost their smiles.

World bank breaks promise to uncontacted Awa Indians

Brazil has violated its own constitution and the World Bank has flouted its Operational Directive by failing to demarcate Aw? Indian territory - although funds were made available 18 years ago to do so.

This has lead to the deaths of unknown numbers of uncontacted Aw? and the destruction of their land. Largely businessmen and politicians who have large landholdings on Aw? land have blocked the demarcation.

The money for the Aw? demarcation expired on the 30th June 2000, eighteen years after it was given to Brazil as part of a World Bank loan for the development of the Caraj?s mining project. A condition of this loan was that the Brazilian authorities should demarcate all Indian territories. However, the Aw? area still has not been demarcated and this hunter-gatherer tribe are facing increasing invasion of their land by settlers, ranchers and loggers, making them acutely vulnerable to disease and violence.

Despite having failed to ensure that the Brazilian authorities and mining company CVRD adhered to the conditions of the Caraj?s Project loan and agreement, the World Bank is preparing to make further loans to the area.

The Aw? people are one of the few nomadic hunter-gatherer peoples in Brazil. In 1950 their population was estimated at 800. Today they number less than 300, of whom about 150 are uncontacted. Living in mobile groups within the Amazon forest, they hunt game such as tapir and monkeys and gather fruit and nuts.

Most of the Aw? who have been contacted and live in villages are the survivors of brutal massacres. Attacks on groups of nomadic Aw? are common and these survivors relate how Aw? have been killed at gunpoint or deliberately poisoned by ranchers and loggers. The World Bank’s Operational Directive on indigenous peoples (para. 15c) clearly states that recognition of indigenous peoples’ land tenure or ownership rights is a fundamental prerequisite in any project implementation where indigenous peoples are involved.

The Aw? people are one of the few nomadic hunter gatherer peoples in Brazil. In 1950 their population was estimated at 800. Today they number less than 400, of whom about 150 are uncontacted. Living in mobile groups within the Amazon forest, they hunt game such as tapir and monkeys and gather fruit and nuts. Most of the Aw? who have been contacted and live in villages are the survivors of brutal massacres. Attacks on groups of nomadic Aw? are common and these survivors relate how Aw? have been killed at gunpoint or deliberately poisoned by ranchers and loggers.

The World Bank’s Operational Directive on indigenous peoples (para. 15c) clearly states that recognition of indigenous peoples’ land tenure or ownership rights is a fundamental prerequisite in any project implementation where indigenous peoples are involved. The World Bank is currently revising its Indigenous Peoples Policy. Worryingly, a leaked copy suggests that the new policy will be substantially weaker.

Survival’s director general, Stephen Corry, said, ‘It is scandalous that today, as Brazil celebrates the 500th anniversary of the arrival of the Portuguese, the Aw? continue to be decimated by the same abuses they have faced for five centuries. In our opinion, if action is not taken urgently, the Aw?’s survival as a people is in doubt.’

Recommended
BBC World Affairs correspondent Mike Donkin travelled to the Awa territory in the heart of the Amazon to assess the situation. You should read his article “Brazil’s Awa struggling to survive”

Tag: Awa are in severe danger of being wiped out altogether