Colin Firth and Survival International to save the Awá

Colin Firth, along with Survival International, started a campaign to save the Awà, an indigenous tribe in Amazonia, by a silent genocide. 

The Awà is an uncontacted tribe, which has no relationships or contacts with other cultures. It is a nomadic hunter-gatherers tribe who lives in the forest. It is one of the Earth’s most threatened tribe. Awà population is composed of 355 people, but they are all in danger: farmers without any scruples and gangsters sent by logging companies involved in illegal traffic of wood are coldblooded murderers who kill Awà with rifles and shotguns when they meet them in the forest. The Awà are completely defencelessness, their only weapons are bows and arrows. 

They live in complete harmony with the forest, which is their home and their source of livelihood. Who knew them says that young animals are welcomed into the community and nursed by human mothers if their natural mothers are killed during the hunting: in the video there is a scene that show it. 

The campaign aims to send the Brazilian Minister of Justice José Eduardo Cardozo a message that prompts him to take action against this massacre. It is possible to join the cause and share it visiting the dedicated pages on the Survival International website.
Meantime, thousands of messages in many different languages reached the Brazilian Minister who still has to answer. He just declares to the reporters: “Unfortunately, there is a lot of violence towards indigenous peoples, and in such a condition it is impossible for any government to avoid these situations as they are developing”. 

In March 2012 Judge Jirair Aram Meguerian ordered that all the loggers and settlers should be removed within 12 months. But the deadline has passed, and not a single person has been evicted. 

by Federica di Leonardo 

Translated from the Italian version by Marianna Turriciano. 

To watch other videos, please visit our Video archive.