AP PHOTOS: Manaus indigenous struggle for care amid pandemic

MANAUS, Brazil (AP) — They left their tribal lands in the Amazon for the city, many seeking a better life. But in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic they have neither the protective isolation of their homelands, nor the government care that drew them to the city of Manaus in the first place.

More than 30,000 indigenous people live in the Brazilian state capital hardest hit by the global pandemic. Many among them are sick with fever, straining for air and dying, but just how many no one knows.

The indigenous people of Manaus live together in poor neighborhoods where they struggle to maintain their native languages, culture and identity on the fringes of Brazilian society.

In April, Brazil’s minister of education said during a Cabinet meeting: “I hate the term ‘indigenous peoples’” because in his opinion the indigenous should just be called Brazilians. The comments were roundly denounced in Brazil and abroad by those who believed he meant to erase the identity they are trying to preserve.

For decades, they have fought racism and discrimination with the worst health indicators in the country, including the highest infant mortality rate. The pandemic only highlights this.

The AP interviewed and photographed more than a dozen indigenous people in and around Manaus who wore the traditional dress of their tribes, and the masks they are making to protect themselves against the deadly virus.

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This story was produced with the support of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

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VANDA ORTEGA, 33, WITOTO ETHNICITY

“If I don’t walk with my body painted and with my feathers I am an invisible citizen,” said Vanda Ortega who lives in the Park of the Tribes, a community that is home to more than 2,500 indigenous from 35 ethnic groups in the outskirts of...