Karapiru Awá Guajá, among the last of the hunter-gatherer Awá tribe, survived a massacre and a decade alone in the forest, inspiring others with his resilience and ‘extraordinary warmth’

He survived a massacre that killed most of his family in the Brazilian Amazon and lived for 10 years alone in the forest, but Karapiru Awá Guajá could not escape the pandemic.

Karapiru, one of the last of the hunter-gatherer nomadic Awá of Maranhão state, died of Covid-19 earlier this month. With only 300 Awá thought to remain, they have been called the “earth’s most threatened tribe”.

I spent a long time in the forest. I was always running away, on my own. I had no family to help me, to talk to

I hope the same things that happened to me won’t happen to my daughter. I hope it won’t be like in my time

Related: Yanomami beset by violent land-grabs, hunger and disease in Brazil

This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.