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| Awá elder making an arrow. Brazil 2000
© 2000 Fiona Watson/Survival |
'They killed my mother, my brothers and my sisters, and my
wife.' Karapiru Awá, survivor of a massacre
Unless the Brazilian government, the World Bank and the mining company CVRD
take urgent action, uncontacted Awá Indians in Brazil could soon be wiped
out.
In 1982 the Brazilian government and the mining company CVRD received over
US$900 million from the World Bank and European Union to develop the iron ore
deposits in the Carajás mountains. One condition of the World Bank loan was that
all Indian territories within the sphere of the Carajás project should be
officially recognised by the Brazilian government, having their boundaries
demarcated by FUNAI, the government's Indian agency. Two decades on, and despite
the availability of this money, the Awá in Maranhão state are still waiting for
their land rights to be recognised. The demarcation has been blocked largely by
politicians and businessmen, some of whom have large landholdings on Awá land.
The delay in demarcation has left the Indians' land unprotected, and led to
the massive invasion and devastation of the land by loggers, ranchers, and
settlers. Even worse, Awá groups have been attacked and killed as the scramble
to steal their land and resources intensifies. There are now 276 properties
settled in the Awá area, the centre of which has reportedly been heavily
invaded. Much of this has happened since 1990, years after the project to
protect Indian lands was established by FUNAI and CVRD. Survival fears that the
government may try to reduce the size of the Awá area – originally defined as
247,000 hectares. It is crucial that all their land is recognised: the Awá's
territory is very important to them (as it is to all tribal peoples) and is
necessary to sustain their nomadic way of life.
Moreover, the Awá area is critical as it links two other indigenous areas,
the Carú to the south, and the Alto Turiaçu to the north, where Awá also live.
There are clear indications that the Awá area is inhabited by uncontacted groups
which, according to local FUNAI employees, number at least 50 people. These
groups are extremely vulnerable. In December 1998, six of a group of 10
uncontacted Awá died, probably from disease transmitted by outsiders. The
survivors now live in Juriti village with other Awá families. Contacted Awá and
non-Indian hunters have reported regular sightings of small, uncontacted Awá
groups over the last few years.
The Awá people are one of the last 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. They are widely spread, inhabiting at least
four Indian territories in Maranhão. It is believed that 200-300 years ago they
were agriculturalists who were forced into nomadism to survive waves of
Portuguese and Brazilian settlers invading their land. Now they live in small,
mobile groups moving from shelter to shelter in the Amazon forest. They hunt
game such as tapir, peccary and monkeys and gather fruits and nuts, especially
from the babassu palm. Most of the Awá who have been contacted and live in
villages are the survivors of brutal massacres.
The Brazilian government, CVRD and the World Bank are guilty of violating
both the Brazilian constitution and the World Bank's operational directive on
indigenous peoples by ignoring the Awá's land rights. Failure to act has led to
the deaths of unknown numbers of uncontacted Awá and the invasion and
destruction of a large part of their land. Survival is calling for the immediate
recognition and protection of their land which is the only hope for the survival
of Brazil's last nomadic people.
You can help the Awá Indians of Brazil. Click here to write a letter of complaint to the Brazilian government.
