The Yawanawa of Brazil

The Yawanawa of Brazil, numbering approximately 850 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an Indigenous people of the western Amazon, native to what is today the state of Acre in Brazil, with smaller related populations across borders in Peru and Bolivia. They are an Indigenous people in the Amazon people cluster of the Latin American and Caribbean Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Yawanawa and their primary religion is Ethnoreligion.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Yawanawa

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Brazil
People Cluster: Amazon
Primary Language(s): Yawanawa (ywn)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 850
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG017209
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Yawanawa of Brazil

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

50%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Yawanawa
Language Family: Pano-Tacanan

100%
%
Yawanawa Speakers

Media Resources in Yawanawa:

Films:

No entries found for: Yawanawa(ywn). Help build some!

Bible Resources in Yawanawa:

Or check out the Yawanawa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Pioneer Unreached People Group, (LPI: 1), 0.1% to 0.5% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Yawanawa:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Yawanawa are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Yawanawa:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Yawanawa are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Yawanawa:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Yawanawa of Brazil

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
readRomans 1:20

As God's creation declares His glory, pray that multitudes who don't know Him will see the works of His hands and desire to know more about the Creator.

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
readLuke 5:27-28

Prat that God will prepare many hearts to meet Him when He says, “Follow Me!” and that they will respond in faith, leaving everything behind to follow Him.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
readPsalm 51:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will quickly repent when they sin and walk with clean hearts and right spirits as they grow in their relationship with the Lord.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
readActs 1:8

Pray that God will raise up believers who are willing to cross cultures and boldly share the good news of Jesus with the lost in this people group and from every nation.

Yawanawa Across Countries (ROP3 - 111012) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

Scroll to Top