The Awá are an “ancestral indigenous nation residing in the north-western region of Ecuador and the south-western regions of Colombia”.
An overview of the complex history of tenure arrangements and intercommunity tensions will be presented, as well as a description of the goals and interests of various stakeholders. The following sections will outline the history of this case and the methods employed by the Awá of Ecuador to assert their land rights and to enact their conservation and management practices. However, frequent disruptions by other stakeholders, statutory tenure changes, industrial pressures, allegations of corruption, threats of drug trafficking, and periods of civil war have threatened the control of the FCAE over certain areas of their territory, and endangered Awá lives and livelihoods. Conservation- and human rights- oriented organizations have significantly contributed to the protection and extension of Awá rights through direct community support, as well as through the expansion of conservation areas. The recognition of the Awá as a distinct indigenous group and the delineation of Awá ancestral lands by the Ecuadorian government were significant events for the Awá communities in the assertion of their territorial rights. Through the formation of the Federation of Awá Centres of Ecuador (FCAE), and with support from many national and international organizations, the Awá of Ecuador have obtained legal recognition of rights to a large portion of their traditional territory, and have worked to sustainably manage these areas according to community-determined goals. The Awá, an indigenous nation whose traditional territory extends across the border of the modern-day nation-states of Colombia and Ecuador, have been working for decades to preserve their traditional way of life, as well as the lands and waters essential to their survival. We won’t give up until we all have a world where the Awá – and all tribal peoples – are respected and their human rights protected, said Stephen Corry.FCAE employees in lowland rainforest of Awá territory. The Awá deserve the right to live as they choose, on their own land, without the threat of violence or encroachment from the outside world. Survival is now urging the Brazilian authorities to put in place a long-term solution to stop the invaders from returning, and to guarantee the safety of the tribe. The operation was completed in April 2014, whereby the Awá were presented with an ‘Evictions Completion Document’.
Hundreds of soldiers, police and government agents flooded the Awá’s territory, locating and destroying sawmills and logging camps and expelling invaders, who had been given 40 days’ notice to leave and had been offered compensation. In an unprecedented success the campaign incited the eviction of all non-Indian invaders from the Awá’s land by the Brazilian government. Articles appeared in the media on both sides of the Atlantic and dozens of celebrities pledged their support, including fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and actor Colin Firth.Ī host of 57, 000 messages, from 38 countries, showered down upon the new Brazilian Minister of Justice and campaigners also wrote to Congress, their MPs and their MEPs. ‘Save the Awá’ was spelled in snow in Amsterdam and on the wall of a shopping mall in western Australia. The multi-media campaign gave rise to thousands of voices speaking out for the Awá. For two years Survival International has fervently campaigned for the Brazilian government to remove all non-Indian invaders from the Awá’s territory and to protect the Awá and their lands.
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