For centuries the Awa people lived in peace with their surroundings, occupying thousands of acres of land untouched by the outside world. That all changed in the 1950's, when loggers and ranchers invaded their land. The Awa homeland took a major hit when large deposits of iron ore was found on the west side of their territory. This resulted in the Great Carajas Project, which consisted of a number of dams, ranches, and smelters. The Great Carajas Project changed the Awa homeland forever. Dams halted the flow of some of the major rivers the Awa used for fishing. The ranches and logging companies continually shrunk the size of the forest the Awa lived in. In 1985 a railway was built through the heart of the jungle, further decimating the Awa's homeland. Less than 15 years after iron ore was found in the forest, over half of the almost 60 tribes living in the forest had perished. Although some organizations such as Survival and FUNAI tried to help protect the Awa and their home, the amount of destruction continued at the same feverish pace, until 2010, where it was discovered that about a half of the Awa's homeland had been destroyed, all in less than 60 years.
Foster, Brandon
2013 Awa: Saving Earth's Most Threatened Tribe. Electronic document,
http://www.argentinaindependent.com/currentaffairs/awa-saving-earths-most-threatened-tribe/, accessed March 23, 2015.
Our Philosophy and Basic Information
Mission:
The iCross-Cultural Project is a cultural anthropology course-based project meant to raise critical consciousness about the rich cultural diversity in our indigenous world. Being totally aware of the limitations of being outsiders, we are a group of multidisciplinary undergraduate students who believe in cross-cultural sensitivity and participatory agency aimed at disseminating information about indigenous realities as accurately as possible.
Vision:
The iCross-Cultural Citizen Project's vision is to create an online cross-cultural space for students,professionals,and youth to learn and exchange cross-culturally sensitive information about contemporary indigenous experiences. From that outsider student's perspective, we will try to theoretically explore possible collaborative solutions to problems that affect the indigenous populations of our planet. Finally, we hope for the future creation of space where indigenous youth can share their experiences and their realities with us for real mutual collaboration to take place.
Values:
- We value the maximization of benefits to indigenous peoples and other vulnerable populations in the world.
- We value the respect for persons all over the world.
- We value the equal treatment of people, and we are against the exploitation of vulnerable groups around the world.
- We value collaborative cross-cultural learning and critical thinking.
Background Information:
The awa are an endangered indigenous group of people who have little to no contact with the modern world. There are currently 350 members, 100 of which have had no contact with the outside world whatsoever. They faced significant hardship during the 19th century, when settlers came in and cleared most of the forest they live in. This caused them to move to government-established settlements. Even after they left their home behind, they were still able to maintain their way of life, and pass on their cultural values.
Geographic Location:
The awa are located in the eastern portion of the amazon rainforest. With the surplus of wildlife and food available to them, the awa get most of their food from hunting. Although their is so much food, the awa insist on hunting some animals only during certain times of the year. Other animals, such as the capybara and the harpy eagle are taboo to eat, and therefore will not be eaten. The awa try to maintain the survival of the rainforest, just as they are trying to maintain the survival of their people.
I am very upset with how the Awa have been treated ever since the first loggers and miners came in. If I had my home gradually taken from me by strangers without my consent, I would be very upset. I dont understand how people can treat others as insignificant or worthless just because they come from a less advanced society. I think that it doesn't matter how much technology or resources a group has or doesn't have, I think that all groups deserve to be treated equally. Another thing that upset me was the fact that the government has done little to help the Awa tribe since they continue to destroy forest and mine the land to this day. I would compare this to the a group of random people taking ownership of your property, and the government not supporting you at all. Although there is more help now than there was in the early 60's, I feel that their way of life is pretty much impossible to restore to its original state. As an american citizen with a voice in various elections and decisions, it seems completely unfair that the Awa had no say in what happened, and were seemingly ignored. I myself have had to move to a different place before, and although my home wasn't destroyed, it was still a very shocking experience. With the Awa home being gradually destroyed and them having to constantly change their location,I feel that they are going through this same period of shock, but one that has been going on for 60+ years. It just isn't right, there needs to be change.
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