Over time, life has evolved for the Yawanawá, with the arrival of ethno-tourism as well as legal threats to their land from their own government. Today their mission is to continue to protect their community’s cultural heritage and their precious rainforest, as well as celebrate how their philosophy has moved with the times – for instance, now women have a more powerful, equal voice within the community. Here we chart the fascinating history of the Yawanawá, known as ‘the people of the wild boar’, who live in the Indigenous Land of Rio Gregório in the state of Acre, deep in the Brazilian Amazon.

The Yawanawá live in harmony with the forest for thousands of years. 

The Yawanawá’s first contact with Western Society takes place under the leadership of their ancestor Antonio Luí’s Pekuti. It is a period marked by atrocities against their people, including enslavement by rubber barons.

The missionaries of the New Tribes Mission of Brazil (MTB) come to try and ‘evangelise’ the Yawanawá community and introduce new Western customs. 

The ancestral land of the Yawanawá community is legally marked out by the Brazilian government, with an area of 92,860 hectares. 

As part of a major, ongoing partnership with AVEDA, the Yawanawá plant a large crop of annatto seeds for the company to use in its cosmetics.

All the Yawanawá people gather for the first weeklong festival called YAWA, a celebration of singing, dancing, art and cultural expression.

Concerned about the threat of a new road due to cross through the state of Acre in the southwest Brazilian Amazon, the Yawanawá prepare to fight to revise the boundaries of their land.

They produce a documentary film called ‘YAWA – History of the Yawanawá People’ expressing their art, culture and spirituality.

Joaquin Phoenix is filmed visiting the Yawanawá community in the rainforest for a reality TV series called 4REAL, which is shown in 166 countries.

The limit on the Yawanawá community’s land is officially reviewed and their territory doubles in size.

They trial ‘ethno-tourism’ for the first time with 15 English visitors arriving, which is deemed a big success.

The Yawanawá Life Plan is introduced, presenting a detailed vision of the future for the next generation.

The Brazilian government introduces a bill PL 490/2007, which threatens to strip over 300 Indigenous communities of their precious land rights.

The Yawa #TOGETHER partnership with #TOGETHERBAND launches on Kickstarter and the Yawa Band is born!