The Kawahiva are a small group of uncontacted Indians living in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. They are the survivors of numerous genocidal attacks. Similar atrocities have wiped out many tribes in the region over the last century. Today the Kawahiva are on the run, fleeing the constant invasions of their forest home by loggers, miners and ranchers. They are in grave danger of being wiped out unless their land is recognized and protected by the Brazilian authorities. Their territory, known as Rio Pardo, is in Mato Grosso state, where illegal deforestation rates are the highest on record in Brazil’s Amazon. Rio Pardo lies within the municipality of Colniza, one of the most violent areas in Brazil. 90% of Colniza’s income is from illegal logging. The Kawahiva’s plight is so serious that in 2005 a public prosecutor launched Brazil’s first ever investigation into the genocide of an uncontacted Indian tribe. Twenty-nine people suspected of involvement in killing Kawahiva, including a former state governor and a senior policeman, were detained but later released. The case has stalled for lack of evidence.
After years of delay, Brazil has approved the creation of a sprawling reserve that would protect a highly vulnerable tribe of isolated nomads along one of the most volatile frontier regions in the Amazon rain forest. Tribal rights activists are hailing the decision, which will set in motion the labor-intensive process of physically marking the boundaries of the Kawahiva do Rio Pardo Indigenous Territory. The Kawahiva are a tribe of hunter-gatherers who for decades have been living on the run from logging crews and other intruders who covet the mineral and timber wealth in their species-rich forests.
In the Brazilian Amazon, a tiny group of uncontacted survivors teeters on the brink of extinction. The battle for the Kawahiva’s survival is not complicated. On one side, the loggers, ranchers, land speculators and miners intent on stealing their land. On the other, the Kawahiva, and the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights. In the middle: the Brazilian authorities. Only they have the power to ensure the Kawahiva’s land is permanently protected as and indigenous territory. It is thought that only about 50 Kawahiva are still alive. Recently, indigenous-rights activists and employees of Brazil’s indigenous affairs agency (FUNAI) say illegal loggers, gold miners, and even drug gangs are encroaching on land belonging to both isolated and contacted indigenous people. Those same forces could be scaring the uncontacted tribes away, and possibly even attacking them.
States have the duty to protect human rights from abuses at the hands of companies and private interests, according to the 2011 United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. They must adopt appropriate measures “to prevent, investigate but also punish and redress such abuses through effective policies legislations, regulations and adjudication”. In Brazil, there are about 100 uncontacted indigenous tribes. Brazilian authorities’ commitment will be fundamental to safeguarding them and ensuring permanent protection of their land.
Brazil must save Amazon’s Kawahiva tribe from genocide
The Kawahiva, an uncontacted tribe in the Amazon rainforest, face extinction unless Brazil’s government acts to secure their legal rights to land, security and to remain undisturbed by outsiders, writes Lewis Evans. The decree that would achieve this vital goal has been sitting on the Minister of Justice’s desk since 2013. Let’s make sure he signs it soon, before it’s too late. On the southern fringes of the Amazon, in an area of dense rainforest in Mato Grosso do Sul state, a small band of people are on the run. You probably haven’t heard of them, and they haven’t heard of you, but as one of the last uncontacted tribes on Earth that is unlikely to bother them all that much. They are known as the Kawahiva, and the increasing encroachment of loggers and other outsiders into their lands threatens to wipe out their society forever.
Loggers and ranchers murder Indians to gain use of their lands, leaving numerous indigenous groups with small numbers of survivors. As demands for wood increases, loggers move to the large forests of Brazil. The uncontacted Indians who already occupy the forests become an issue, so loggers forcibly murder them. Such behavior drives Indians away from their homes where they must make a new, makeshift of living or be killed. An example of the affects of such vicious behavior are the Kawahiva people. They are forced to be on the run as loggers constantly interrupt and destroy their living. Constantly moving, the Kawahiva have little time to settle without being massacred by surrounding loggers. They successfully avoid this, however must stop having children in the process. Over time, the Kawahiva will die out, no longer reproducing because of the threatening nature of loggers.
To be considered indigenous, you must be native to the land. However, imperialism caused a loss of indigenous tribe’s culture and their people. Currently, Forests in Brazil are being cut down. The Kawahiva in Rio Pardo, Brazil are currently becoming history. The Kawahiva’s lifestyle consists of constantly moving within the Amazon Rainforest and using natural resources to function daily. With their lack of resources due to government and illegal logger the Kawahiva are becoming more afraid for their chance of survival. The Kawahiva’s chance of survival are not in their control. They use their land for shelter and with illegal logger they are having less space for their society to grow. ‘“Their [Kawahiva tribe] territory, known as Rio Pardo, From a tribe’s perspective, the tribe would associate outsider with evil. The Kawahiva people are becoming timider because they fear for their health of their children and themselves. Additionally, when miner, drug gangs, and logger meet the tribe, the Kawahiva may be victims of attacks (Robert Ferris). They are easy to be taken advantage of because they are not close to being technology equivalent to modern day. Along with the decline in population, the tribe’s reproduction rate is becoming lower.
The Kawahiva people, formerly called the Rio Pardo Indians, are an uncontacted indigenous tribe who live near the city of Colniza (Mato Grosso), nearest of the Rio Pardo at north of Mato Grosso, Brazil. They are usually on the move and have little contact with outsiders. Thus, they are known primarily from physical evidence they have left behind – arrows, baskets, hammocks, and communal houses. Knowledge of the Kawahiva’s modern existence dates to 1999, but it is possible the group dates back to the 1700s. Their survival has been threatened by deforestation, illegal logging, and attempts to kill or enslave them. In 2005, the Brazilian government launched an investigation into possible genocide of the Kawahiva, but ultimately no one was put on trial. The tribe’s land has been under local protection since 2001, but the protection has periodically been removed by the courts only to be later reinstated. In 2012, the land was turned into an official reservation. In 2013, the government released video of the Kawahiva filmed in 2011, generating headlines around the world.
The Kawahiva people are an uncontacted indigenous tribe of Brazil. They live in the area of the Rio Pardo of Mato Grosso, Brazil but due to constant threats from the outside world they are usually on the move. They have little contact with other indigenous groups and have rarely been seen by non-indigenous people. As such, the Kawahiva are known primarily from physical evidence they have left behind – arrows, baskets, hammocks, and sleeping mats. They live in communal shelters. They use a primitive spinning wheel to make string and make nets of tree bark. Neighboring tribes call the Kawahiva “Baixinhos” (tiny people) or “Cabeças vermelhas” (red heads). The Kawahiva are a hunting and gathering society. They rely on temporary hunting camps, not staying in one place for very long. It is believed that loggers have intentionally tried to keep the Kawahiva on the run. Survival International, a group that campaigns for the rights of indigenous tribal peoples, speculates that women of the tribe have stopped giving birth. They appear to speak a version of Kagwahiva that varies in several ways from known versions.
Brazil must save Amazon’s Kawahiva tribe from genocide
On the southern fringes of the Amazon, in an area of dense rainforest in Mato Grosso do Sul state, a small band of people are on the run. You probably haven’t heard of them, and they haven’t heard of you, but as one of the last uncontacted tribes on Earth that is unlikely to bother them all that much. They are known as the Kawahiva, and the increasing encroachment of loggers and other outsiders into their lands threatens to wipe out their society forever. The smallest amount of contact with outsiders could be deadly for them. A handshake, a hug, a brush with a piece of clothing, any physical proximity could transmit infectious diseases that could decimate the entire tribe. Without rainforest, they will run out of food, dependent as they are on hunting small game and gathering fruits, nuts and berries in the Amazonian jungle. Their lifestyle is completely sustainable, but without the active intervention of outsiders to protect their rights and their lands it will not be sustained. The situation is unambiguous and clear; the Kawahiva face genocide and it is time for the world to act.
The Kawahiva are a nomadic people, on the brink of extinction as they desperately flee armed loggers and ranchers who are operating in and around their forest home. The Kawahiva are a nomadic people, on the brink of extinction as they desperately flee armed loggers and ranchers who are operating in and around their forest home. After it was shown on the national news a town councillor from Colniza, the town nearest the Kawahiva’s land, and known as the most violent town in Brazil, accused FUNAI of ‘planting’ the tribe there to prevent local people from exploiting the forest. Little is known about the Kawahiva, although the earliest references to them date from 1750. They may be the last survivors of their people, or they could be related to one of several neighboring tribes who nickname them ‘Baixinhos’ (the tiny people) or ‘Cabeças vermelhas’ (the red heads).
Indigenous Peoples Literature 
