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New photos released of remote Brazilian rainforest tribe
Survival International, a UK-based rights group dedicated to protecting indigenous communities worldwide, has just released new photographs of an "uncontacted" group of indigenous people living on the Brazilian-Peruvian border. This is only the second time in two years photos of the isolated Indians have ever been released.
FoxNews reports the photos were taken by Brazil's Indian Affairs department, which monitors various indigenous tribes by aircraft. Uncontacted tribes are so described because they have limited interactions with the outside world. Survival International estimates that there are over a hundred uncontacted tribes left globally.
The organization came under fire for creating a hoax when the first photos were released in 2008; the president of Peru even hinted that such tribes were an invention of environmentalists opposing Amazonian oil exploration. The myth of "first-contact" tribes also prevails amongst unscrupulous companies catering to tourists. Survival International's website quotes Marcos Apurinã, Coordinator of Brazil's Amazon Indian organization COIAB as saying, "It is necessary to reaffirm that these peoples exist, so we support the use of images that prove these facts. These peoples have had their most fundamental rights, particularly their right to life, ignored ... it is therefore crucial that we protect them."
Gallery: Astonishing new photos of one of the world's last uncontacted tribes
The Brazilian government is a believer, however, and has dedicated a division to helping protect uncontacted tribes. Many indigenous peoples of the Amazon have been the victims of disease or genocide (due to war or, uh, "eradication") or displacement by petroleum companies. The Brazilian government is concerned that an increase in illegal logging in Peru is forcing uncontacted tribes over the border into Brazil, which could result in conflict.
Survival International reports that the Brazilian Indians appear to be in good health, as evidenced by their appearance (FYI, their skin is dyed red from the extract of the annatto seed), as well as that of communal gardens and a plentiful supply of food including manioc and papaya. The tribe was also recently filmed (from the air) by the BBC for the television series, "Human Planet."
While there is admittedly a certain hypocrisy in buzzing uncontacted peoples with planes, the bigger picture is the necessity of proving their existence in order to save them, as Apurinã points out. Look for my forthcoming post on my stay with the remote Hauorani people of Ecuador, who had their first contact with the outside world in the late 1940's. Over the last twenty-plus years, they have waged legal land rights battles against various petroleum companies in order to preserve both their land and their existence.
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Filed under: Arts and Culture, History, Learning, South America, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, News
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jack Sarvary Feb 1st 2011 9:19PM
Great post - incredibly interesting! I am glad to hear that the Brazilian government is stepping in where the Peruvian one is failing. These peoples definitely need protecting, both from governments / corporations seeking to profit from the land they live on, as well from over-curious tourists and adventurers who would unwittingly spoil their way of life for the sake of a good photo and story. The problem (if we can call it that) with Western culture is that it only takes exposure to it to destroy these indigenous cultures. Once they become aware that a Western world exists, it would is very difficult for them to prefer their own. Granted it may take a generation or two, but that is a blink of an eye in the big scheme of things.
mike Feb 3rd 2011 6:53AM
Perhaps "society" should leave them be so they won't be "contaminated".
Dean Feb 3rd 2011 6:44AM
I must be dreaming.Didn't this same article come up several months ago,and the photos were proven to be fake? If I'm wrong ,I apologize .Also saw on television a series on the natives,and the government was forcing them to do away with their customs of hundreds of years ,especially sacrificial rituals.In this day and age there are a few who create false impressions.I need the truth,but for sure,want things left as they are,and for the government to stay out of their affairs.
jeff Feb 3rd 2011 8:13AM
Dean,
you're more than right! I saw these in 1997 in a magazine.
Kattypants Feb 3rd 2011 9:16AM
I remember this too. It was proven to be a hoax. Lame article.
Koz Feb 3rd 2011 7:32AM
All I can say is it looks fake to me, maybe if they took videos.
redrose66 Feb 3rd 2011 8:16AM
In the future, please do not use such expressions as "due to war or, uh, 'eradication' " , and " FYI" if it is your goal to write for a major publication . It makes your writing appear to be written by an amateur. It also makes it look as if it is written as a Facebook status. The "uh" and "FYI" should have been omitted , but other wise the article is well written and informative.
Kelly Feb 3rd 2011 8:33AM
What can we sell them? Maybe insurance and SmartWater?
Dave Feb 3rd 2011 8:58AM
I wonder why he's talking on a cell phone.
mike Feb 3rd 2011 9:16AM
UNCONTACTED? , The little girl is holding a machete, they could not possibly make that without machinery.
Betty Feb 3rd 2011 9:57AM
I was also wondering about was looks to be a white pot in the foreground
Brian Feb 3rd 2011 9:22AM
Great. It won't be long until these guys will want to come to America illegally and be counted in the census data as well.
Zack Hunter Feb 3rd 2011 9:29AM
What's the deal?! If you really want these tribes protected...don't publicize them!!
raidrmik67 Feb 3rd 2011 10:25AM
Is AOL so desperate for news they have to reprint stories already proven to be fake? These "new" photos are not anything new at all and have been proven to be a hoax. AOL needs to pull this article.
pete Feb 3rd 2011 10:51AM
These look like the same photos that came out about 8 or 10 years ago. I was working at UAL then, and remember then in a paper from a plane that just came in from France. Is our media THAT far behind?
get real Feb 3rd 2011 10:56AM
This is the year 2011. Come on. These few people need to be removed from the forest and put in a education camp. Then put to work in factories or on ssi. We turn are back on them and PRETEND it is for them. LOL it is not. All parents want the best for their children. DO you think the parents of these bug eating children don't want something better for there kids. Please some one go rescue these poor human beings!
TheInfamousJ Feb 4th 2011 12:21AM
The people aren't dumb. They know modernity exists. They know we exist. They aren't "uncontacted" so much as "minimally contacted".
And you know what? They reject our society. They don't want what we have. They don't see it as better.
And much as you have the ability to choose your own brand of toothpaste, so too do they have the ability to choose to live in our text-speak, always-marketed-to, most-people's-jobs-aren't-necessary-for-the-world-to-function, stressed-out, frenetic, getting-stuck-in-rush-hour, stealing-toilet-paper-from-work, society.
Are you threatened by the fact that people would chose to reject the culture in which you live?
(And PS: Bugs are actually quite tasty. Cricket are peanutty and very full of protein. Way more nutritious than that bag of Fritos sitting in the vending machine.)
(And PPS: Lobster - that wonderful, expensive dish - is related to the cockroach. So, "we" eat bugs, too! Just sea bugs.)
dana Feb 5th 2011 2:00PM
I hear theres diamonds and oil there , guess they don't exist now
tim sw Feb 3rd 2011 11:29AM
They are better off living the way they are. Can you honestly say the Western World is a better place? Look at the things that are happening. Egypt, the Middle East, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, those people living in the forest are lucky to be envied for being able to live simple.
Forgiver Feb 3rd 2011 12:51PM
Can we just leave them alone??? They've lived happyly for hundred of years,without "our medicine,technology" etc,etc,they respect each other and their neighbors better than we do in our "modern society" ,they don't polute,they do have a very neat way of respect for their authoryties and the elder,they are better than us. ! ! !