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UPDATE: 4 February An extraordinary new film of the tribe in these pictures has been released. It is the first aerial footage of any uncontacted community. Watch now » New photos obtained by Survival International show uncontacted Indians in never-seen-before detail. The Indians are living in Brazil, near the Peruvian border, and are featured in the ‘Jungles’ episode of BBC1’s ‘Human Planet’ (Thurs 3 Feb, 8pm, UK only). The pictures were taken by Brazil’s Indian Affairs Department, which has authorized Survival to use them as part of its campaign to protect their territory. They reveal a thriving, healthy community with...

Recent photos of an "uncontacted tribe" of Indians near the Brazil-Peru border have sparked media reports of a hoax, but the organization that released the images defends its claims and actions. The photographs, which showed men painted red and black and aiming arrows skyward, were released in late May by Survival International, a London-based organization that advocates for tribal people worldwide. The release stated that "members of one of the world's last uncontacted tribes have been spotted and photographed from the air,"

Recent photos of an "uncontacted tribe" of Indians near the Brazil-Peru border have sparked media reports of a hoax, but the organization that released the images defends its claims and actions. The photographs, which showed men painted red and black and aiming arrows skyward, were released in late May by Survival International, a London-based organization that advocates for tribal people worldwide. The release stated that "members of one of the world's last uncontacted tribes have been spotted and photographed from the air," and quoted the Brazilian government photographer saying, "there are some who doubt [the tribe's] existence" as justification for...

HE man behind photos of warriors from an "undiscovered" Amazon tribe that were beamed around the world has admitted it was a publicity stunt aimed at raising awareness of logging. Indigenous tribes expert, José Carlos Meirelles, said the tribe had been known of since 1910, and had been photographed to prove that they still existed in an area endangered by logging, The Guardian reported. Mr Meirelles, who was working for Funai, the Brazilian Indian Protection Agency dedicated to finding remote tribes and protecting them, said he spent three years gatheiring "evidence" about the tribe, and then planned the publicity to...

Uncontacted" Amazon Tribe Actually Known for DecadesKelly Hearn for National Geographic NewsJune 19, 2008 Recent photos of an uncontacted tribe firing arrows at a plane briefly made these Amazon Indians the world's least understood media darlings. Contrary to many news stories, the isolated group has actually been monitored from a distance for decades, past and current Brazilian government officials say. No one, however, is known to have had a face-to-face meeting with the nomadic tribe, which lives along the Peru-Brazil border. And no one knows how much, if anything, these rain forest people know about the outside world. The tribe—whose...

It should be one killer wedding. Joran Van der Sloot, the convicted Dutch murderer and main suspect in the 2005 Natalee Holloway disappearance, will tie the knot with his pregnant Peruvian girlfriend while behind bars Friday, his lawyer has revealed. The 26-year-old, who's currently serving 28 years for murder, will exchange vows in an intimate, midday ceremony with his girlfriend, Leidy Figueroa, in Lima's Piedras Gordas penitentiary, his attorney Maximo Altez announced Thursday. The truly hopeless romantics met while Figueroa, 24, was working in the prison selling candies and cigarettes, said Altez. Conjugal visits are granted to all prisoners at...

Quipus where used as a form of record-keeping in Inca society, which had no written language. A set of twenty-five well-preserved quipus were found in the archaeological complex of Incahuasi, south of Lima, Alejandro Chu, archaeologist in charge of the site reported on Tuesday. Chu told Andina News Agency that this is a major finding as the quipus were found in warehouses or kallancas and not in a funerary context, as most discoveries in the past, “what makes us believe they were used for administrative purposes”. According to the Peruvian archaeologist, these objects, used by the Inca empire and previous...

There is no better way to grab attention by launching a marketing campaign that involves interaction with people, done in public places. This is exactly what WWF Paraguay is doing. In order to raise awareness on global warming issues, WWF Paraguay launches Global Warming Menu – an on-the-road event featuring cooking for lunch – done on the asphalt. What? Yes, you heard that right. WWF Paraguay team cooks meals on the asphalt and serve them. They look nice. No stove required. It’s an interesting event in itself… but the big question is – why? Paraguay is one of the hottest...

All of a sudden, the Ring of Fire is starting to tremble violently. Last month, we had a whole bunch of major earthquakes along the Ring of Fire, and this month volcanoes all over the Ring of Fire are erupting. Of course, there has always been seismic activity within this giant band that stretches around the Pacific Ocean. After all, approximately 75 percent of all volcanoes are located in the Ring of Fire and approximately 90 percent of all global earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire. But what is alarming is that the level of activity appears to be...

Virtue has gone forth, It seeks its source , The holy and true, But will it be found on you ?! Those faithful to abide, In My presence and not hide, Those with the abilty, To drink from My cup and see, Clearly the Father's Will, To stand near My Voice and Quill, Those with the abilty to know, The understanding of the coals that glow, My pure and Holy Testimony, For these coals represent Me, And now this harvest that is mine, Is about to see and witness the Outpouring of My Spirit Divine, For all of Heaven and...

MEDFORD, Mass. — Colleges are paying students to take a year off after high school to travel, volunteer or do internships so that students of all income brackets can benefit from “gap years.” A new program at Tufts University and existing ones at a handful of other schools aim to remove the financial barriers that can keep cash-strapped students from exploring different communities and challenge their comfort zones before jumping right into college. The gap year program starting this fall at Tufts will pay for housing, airfare and even visa fees, which can often add up to $30,000 or more....

CUSCO, Peru, Security at the Peruvian historical site of Machu Picchu has been increased after a recent string of streakers invading the centuries-old Inca citadel. Late last year, guards arrested two male tourists who were caught streaking at the site. More recently, a video of a couple streaking at Machu Picchu went viral on YouTube, prompting others to follow suit, The Guardian newspaper in London reported Friday. Ricardo Ruiz Caro, Peru's new regional director of culture, announced recently that park guards will increase surveillance to "avoid these unfortunate events that threaten cultural heritage."

President Shimon Peres on Monday hailed remarks by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on the issue of the “Palestinian refugees”, AFP reported. Peres, who said Abbas’s comments showed his "seriousness about reaching peace", was referring to what Abbas said during a meeting Sunday with more than 300 Israeli university students at his Ramallah headquarters. At the meeting, the PA chief told the students said he did not want to "flood Israel" with so-called “Palestinian refugees” and that there was no need to "re-divide" Jerusalem. "I was happy to hear him," Peres's office quoted him as saying at the start of...

Tracy James knew the drug she'd just swallowed was working when her old injuries from high school started twitching with new life. Pressure throbbed from a forgotten busted knee. Her ankle tingled. The fingers she'd sprained roller-skating decades back began to ache. Whatever the 37-year-old had just taken, it shot feeling back into the long-gone ailments. "When I did vomit, it was one of the most amazing moments of my life." For the past 45 minutes, the hut had been dark and silent, the air dripping with jungle moisture. James and nearly 20 others were sitting cross-legged on ornate rugs....

An environmental activist “married” a tree in Argentina. Dressed in a crisp white suit and blue hat, Richard Torres carried a bouquet as the wedding party approached his "bride-to-be” in one of the capital's main parks on Sunday. The Peruvian actor and activist read vows and was given a ring. He even gave the tree a kiss to keep the ceremony authentic. Torres said the spectacle was intended to draw attention to environmental issues. While this is the actor's first ecological event outside of Peru, he said it's the start of his championing of the environment and plans to take...

Highly secretive trade agreement have been published on the WikiLeaks website with 95 pages that were taken from the recent TPP or better known as Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. The main aim of the TPP is to unite nations such as the United States, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Chile, Singapore, Peru, Vietnam, New Zealand and Brunei that combine with itself about 40% of gross domestic product. Barack Obama and other leaders of the outstanding 11 states were keeping the TPP in secrecy for a lot of years. According to the officials, the agreement would stir up the economies of those...

IRGC and the spiritual vacuum of Latin American leftists The following is a glimpse of the kind of thing I often see while researching the activities of the IRGC (writ large) in Latin America. Communism fails to provide for the spiritual needs of leftwing political activists, and the Islamic Republic of Iran seems to have done a pretty good job of inserting themselves and the Khomeinist version of Shiism into that void. (Either that or the IRI is throwing lots of money around and the leftists are whores, which is certainly possible, but for the moment I'll take the more...

The Anomalous Aerial Phenomenon Research Department (DIFAA) is scheduled to be formally launched in Lima today at the offices of the Peruvian Air Force with the assistance of the Civilian Advisory Council. The announcement was made by council member Giorgio Piacenza who is also an adviser to the Exopolitics Institute. During his talk he outlined the plans for the new department and emphasised that it would value objective research and employ a number of qualified researchers and scientists.

The discovery in Peru of another tomb belonging to a pre-Hispanic priestess, the eighth in more than two decades, confirms that powerful women ruled this region 1,200 years ago, archeologists said. The remains of the woman from the Moche—or Mochica—civilization were discovered in late July in an area called La Libertad in the country's northern Chepan province. It is one of several finds in this region that have amazed scientists. In 2006, researchers came across the famous "Lady of Cao"—who died about 1,700 years ago and is seen as one of the first female rulers in Peru. "This find makes...

Tests performed on three mummies found in the Argentinian mountains have shed new light on the Inca practice of child sacrifice. An analysis of the mummies, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed that alcohol and drugs played a large role in the weeks and months leading up to the sacrifice of these children. Before Incan high priests embarked on the pilgrimage to take the victims to the top of mountains, the children were given diets high in animal protein and maize–a diet made for the elite. Along the demanding journey, coca leaves, the plant from...