The Awa Tribe Language and History

The awa are a group of indigenous people in the Eastern amazon forest of Brazil. They are a group of about 350 members who established in 1800 as a nomadic tribe trying to escape the European colonists. There language is part of Tupi-Guarani. This language is broken down into over 50 sub languages spoken all over South America. Throughout the early 19th century they faced countless attacks from European settlers who were clearing out the forests in the area. Because of these raids it reduced there numbers to about 300 but only about 60 were still living the traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle. But from the mid 1980’s the Awa moved to a government established settlement so they were able to live undisturbed with little outside contact allowing their population to make a comeback. But even the little contact they had with the outside wasn’t good. They were under constant pressure by the loggers who killed countless members of the tribe. It wasn’t until March of 2003 when the government finally acted and made there land off limits. Even today the Awa people still face the threat of illegal logging but its not as bad as it was back then.

http://www.crystalinks.com/AwaPeople.html

http://pib.socioambiental.org/en/povo/guaja