It’s strange to think that there are still isolated communities of people who, for the most part, have remained cut off from the rest of the world.

That is set to change, though, if the rest of the world doesn’t stop destroying their homes.

Incredible footage of a member of the uncontacted Awá people was captured by an indigenous media group that wants to raise awareness of the threat posed by illegal loggers, miners, and drug traffickers.

The Awá, who live in the Amazon rainforest, have been described as the world’s most threatened tribe by the NGO Survival International, which has tracked killings by loggers, who surround and frequently enter into the group’s territory.

According to The Guardian, many of the community have been forced to leave the forest, while some remain isolated.

Their existence has been called into question by commercial interests that want to move into the land, but the new footage has been cited as proof that they remain in the territory.

It was recorded by a member of a neighbouring tribe, the Guajajara, which is trying to defend one of the last pockets of intact forest in Maranhão, a massively deforested state in the north-east of Brazil.

“We hope this film produces something positive. We hope it makes an impact around the world to help protect our people and our forest,” said Flay Guajajara, who shot the image while out hunting and released it through the Mídia Índia platform.

Here’s the footage:

Certainly a better ending than many other instances where people and remote tribes cross paths.

The images were screened on TV Globo’s Fantástico investigative documentary show, along with an interview with anthropologists familiar with the Awá.

The documentary maker Sonia Bridi said the tribe live in such fear that they teach children not to cry, so no one can know where they are. “How sad, to have to live in constant fear,” she tweeted after the programme.

The Guajajara are also under pressure but have organised networks of forest guardians to patrol their land, film incursions, and evict loggers. Similar strategies have also been adopted by another Maranhão tribe, the Ka’apor.

Indigenous groups say that successive governments have failed to recognise their territorial rights. They have also failed to recognise the role that indigenous communities play in conserving the rainforest.

According to Survival International, loggers have been emboldened by the government and their camps can now be seen on the edge of Awá land.

Director Stephen Corry said: “This video is further proof that the uncontacted Awá people really exist. And a glance at a satellite photo shows just how much danger they’re in. Loggers have already killed many of their relatives and forced others out of the forest.

He ends with these harrowing words:

“Only a global outcry stands between them and genocide”.

[source:guardian]