Syroly Awá bathes with her son, Wy, in Juriti, Maranhão, Brazil on July 31. The Awá are considered among the most endangered tribes in the world. (Bonnie Jo Mount/Washington Post)
The shell of church is among the remains of Cabeca Fria, a village that was illegally constructed in the Awá Indigenous Reserve, on Aug. 2. (Bonnie Jo Mount/Washington Post)
AWÁ INDIGENOUS LAND, Brazil — In January 2014, the Brazilian government sent the army into this corner of the Amazon, deploying soldiers backed by bulldozers and helicopters to clear out hundreds of families living illegally on a reserve for indigenous people.
The Awá tribe lives on the eastern fringe of Brazil's Amazon rain forest. It is estimated that the population of the Awá totals just 450 people. (Dom Phillips, Bonnie Jo Mount, Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)
The Awá tribe lives on the eastern fringe of Brazil's Amazon rain forest. It is estimated that the population of the Awá totals just 450 people. (Dom Phillips, Bonnie Jo Mount, Jason Aldag/The Washington Post)
