Two indigenous tribeswomen in Brazil have rejected civilisation and returned to the forest after forced contact led them to the brink of death.

Jakarewyj and Amakaria, two sisters who lived among an uncontacted group of Awá people, had been taken to a settled Awá village in 2014 after they came under threat by surrounding loggers.

“We were scared. We were trapped,” said Jakarewyj’s son Irahoa, who said they had been fleeing loggers invading their land in the Amazon for years. The rest of their group has died.