The Yawanawá of the Amazon
Acre, Brasil
There are over 1,200 Yawanawá, with 9 villages along the Gregório River. The Yawanawá and their allies are dedicated to developing a model of sustainability that allows them to protect their lands and engage with the outside world on their own terms, without compromising their cultural and spiritual identity. The tribe has been working tirelessly to increase territory, reinvigorate Yawanawá culture, and establish economically and socially empowering relationships with the outside world.
In the 1990s the Yawanawá were able to reestablish sovereignty after generations of interference by rubber tappers and missionaries. The name Yawanawá translates as ‘The People of the Wild Boar’.