The establishment of the Awá Reserve would also deed them a land area of their own since they currently share the Alto Turiaçu and Caru Reserves with the Ka´apor, Timbira e Guajajara. In addition to providing more security for the Guajá, the consolidation of these areas would give them more land to carry out their traditional subsistence activities. The establishment of this reserve would link up the Alto Turiaçu and Caru Reserves, thus creating a contiguous land area less prone to invasion by local settlers.
Since 1982 there has been an attempt to establish a new land area for the Guajá, known as the Awá Indian Reserve. The Guajá that are in permanent contact live on the Alto Turiaçu (530,520 hectares) and Caru (172,667 hectares) Indian Reserves both of these areas have been officially demarcated and registered. It is likely that by 1950 all of the Guajá were already residing east of the Gurupi river, which separates Pará from Maranhão state (Gomes 1989 & 1991). With the advent of the Cabanagem upheaval, around 1835-1840, they steadily moved in an easterly direction, towards the state of Maranhão. As European colonial settlement expanded, exerting pressure on local indigenous populations, these groups were forced to disperse. They probably formed part of a larger group composed of other Tupi-Guarani peoples, such as the Ka'apor, Tembé, and Guajajara (Tenetehar) (Gomes 1988, 1989 & 1991 Balée 1994). Their origins are obscure yet it is believed that they came from lower Tocantins river basin of Pará state. The Guajá call themselves Awá, a term which means "man", "person", or "people". The Awá Indians of Amazonian Brazil: the most endangered tribe on earth Vanity Fair Magazine
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