Loggers in Brazil who had illegally entered an Amazon Indian reserve captured an eight-year-old indigenous girl and burned her alive, it was claimed today. The child, who belonged to the isolated Gwaja-Awa tribe, is believed to have wandered away from her village to play and got lost in the forest. The group of illegal loggers who were trespassing in the acre reserve in Maranhao state, northern Brazil, came across the young girl, tied her to a tree and set fire to her, it is claimed. Horrifying: An eight-year-old girl has reportedly been burned aline in the Amazon rain forest. Luis Carlos Guajajaras, a local Indian leader from another tribe protected by the reserve, told Brazil's Terra website that members of his community had witnessed the horrific murder. He said the white loggers had been illegally paying Indians from his tribe, the Guajajara, to let them pull down trees using heavy machinery and chains when the lost child appeared. He said: 'It happened deep in the forest. The loggers were doing business with the Guajajara Indians and found the Gwaja girl. And they burned the child.


The reunion


Brazilian loggers 'tied eight-year-old Amazonian tribe girl to a tree and burned her alive'
Skip navigation! Story from World News. For girls in the Amazonian Tikuna tribe, their first menstrual period signals not only an important physical change, but a spiritual one, as well. The girls spend between three months and one year living alone, either in small dwellings or private rooms in their family homes. It was a moment in their life when they could concentrate on themselves and learn a lot about their traditions and cultural heritage. They let their hair grow long. The ritual is seen as a bridge between childhood and adulthood in the tribe, which lives in the part of the Colombian Amazon near the Brazilian and Peruvian borders.
RELATED ARTICLES
I n a small settlement, deep in the Amazon rainforest, colourful preparations are underway for a very important occasion. Here you will find many members of the Tikuna tribe. One of the most numerous tribes in the rainforest, the Tikuna are an extraordinarily artistic people, known for their rich culture and age-old traditions. After a whole year of isolation, the girls will be welcomed back into the tribe as women. They bring together wine and food that have been collected from the community and spend hours crafting elaborate feathered drums that will be used during the festival. One young man plays a whistle to mimic the jungle sounds and imitate the demons who are lingering near the maloka , while another heats a fish-skin drum to hone its sound in preparation for the festivities.
The Yanomami people are an indigenous group who live in the Amazon Rainforest along the borders of Venezuela and Brazil. Although males dominate the Yanomami culture, Yanomami women play an important role in sustaining their lifestyle. The women in the Yanomami tribe are responsible for domestic duties and chores, excluding hunting and killing large game. Although the women do not hunt, they do work in gardens and gather fruits, vegetables, medicinal plants, fish, small animals, honey and insects for food. The garden plots are sectioned off by family. Bananas , sugarcane , mangoes , sweet potatoes , papaya , manioc , and other crops are grown. The women also collect nuts, shellfish and insect larvae. Wild honey is highly prized and the Yanomami harvest 15 different kinds.