Native indian Awa Guaja of Brazil. The Awa- Guaja inhabit the forests of Maranhao (Brazil), call themselves Awa, a term that means man, person, people. The Awa- Guaja are one of the last indigenous groups in Brazil only nomadic. Although they are learning to grow maize and cassava, remain essentially hunters, fishers and gatherers of the fruits of the forest. They speak a language of the trunk Tupi-Guarani. Are organized into small autonomous groups, whose composition varies from 4 to 30 individuals. The first group Awa- Guaja was contacted in 1973. Later, in recent years, have been met and contacted other groups. Currently, 240 Awa- Guaja have permanent or sporadic contacts with civil society, but there are other groups that reject any contact with society and live isolated in the forest of Gurupi. It is estimated, therefore, there are other 50 to 60 Indians not contacted, a total of about 300 Awa-Guaja.
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