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| Awá children, Posto Triacambu, Caru
© 2000 Fiona Watson/Survival |
19th April is Brazil's Indian Day, yet the Brazilian government may end up
with egg on its face when the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, now in
session in Geneva, discusses indigenous issues on 22 and 23 April.
Following a report by Survival International, the UN special rapporteur on
indigenous issues, Dr. Rodolfo Stavenhagen, has chosen to highlight the case of
the Awá Indians as one of a 'small selection' of cases 'of current concern'.
The Awá are one of the last nomadic hunter-gatherer peoples in Brazil. About
100 of them are uncontacted and move in small, mobile groups. One vital area of
their land in Maranhão state, Brazil, has not been officially demarcated because
of powerful economic and political interests in Maranhão. The Brazilian
constitution stated that indigenous lands should be demarcated (mapped out) and
ratified by 1993.
An Awá man recently said, 'I love the forest but I see the whites
hunting everything and setting fire to everything. I think why do they do this?
Everything's gone. They will finish this place off… This is our area and we
are the owners.'
Explore Related Material and the other links to the left to find out more about the Awá.
Photos and footage available to the press. For more information contact
Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7687 8700 or email mr@survival-international.org
