Posted on 05/29/2008 2:59:10 PM PDT by LibWhacker
Skin painted bright red, heads partially shaved, arrows drawn back in the longbows and aimed square at the aircraft buzzing overhead. The gesture is unmistakable: Stay Away.
Behind the two men stands another figure, possibly a woman, her stance also seemingly defiant. Her skin painted dark, nearly black.
The apparent aggression shown by these people is quite understandable. For they are members of one of Earth's last uncontacted tribes, who live in the Envira region in the thick rainforest along the Brazilian-Peruvian frontier.
Thought never to have had any contact with the outside world, everything about these people is, and hopefully will remain, a mystery. Enlarge Uncontacted tribe
Painted: In a thick rainforest along the Brazilian-Peruvian border, these tribespeople are thought never to have had any contact with the outside world
Their extraordinary body paint, precisely what they eat (the anthropologists saw evidence of gardens from the air), how they construct their tent-like camp, their language, how their society operates - the life of these Amerindians remains a mystery.
'We did the overflight to show their houses, to show they are there, to show they exist,' said Brazilian uncontacted tribes expert José Carlos dos Reis Meirelles Junior. 'This is very important because there are some who doubt their existence.'
Meirelles, who despite once being shot in the shoulder by an arrow fired by another tribe campaigns to protect these peoples, believes this group's numbers are increasing, and pointed out how strong and healthy the people seemed.
But other uncontacted groups in the region, whose homes have been photographed from the air, are in severe danger from illegal logging in Peru and populations are being decimated.
Logging is driving uncontacted tribes over the border and could lead to conflict with the estimated five hundred uncontacted Indians already living on the Brazilian side. Enlarge Uncontacted tribe
The tribespeople are likely to think the plane that took this photgraph is a spirit or large bird
'What is happening in this region [of Peru] is a monumental crime against the natural world, the tribes, the fauna and is further testimony to the complete irrationality with which we, the 'civilised' ones, treat the world,' said Meirelles.
It is extraordinary to think that, in 2008, there remain about a hundred groups of people, scattered over the Earth, who know nothing of our world and we nothing of theirs, save a handful of brief encounters.
The uncontacted tribes, which are located in the jungles of South America, New Guinea and a remote and the beautiful and remote North Sentinel island in the Indian Ocean (the inhabitants of which have also responded to attempts at contact with extreme aggression) all have one thing in common - they want to be left alone.
And for good reason. The history of contact, between indigenous tribes and the outside world, has always been an unhappy one.
In our overcrowded world their very future hangs in the balance. Almost all of these tribes are threatened by powerful outsiders who want their land. These outsiders - loggers, miners, cattle ranchers - are often willing to kill the tribespeople to get what they want.
Even where there is no violence, the tribes can be wiped out by diseases like the common cold to which they have no resistance.
According to Miriam Ross of Survival International, which campaigns to protect the world's remaining indigenous peoples, 'These tribes represent the incredible diversity of humankind. Unless we want to condemn yet more of the earth's peoples to extinction, we must respect their choice. Any contact they have with outsiders must happen in their own time and on their own terms.'
As to who these people are, how they live their lives, what language they speak - we know nothing. 'Normally you can tell who tribes are by their language, how they wear their hair, how they adorn their bodies and so on, but in this case the photos don't allow us to get close enough to see,' says Ms Ross.
When anthropologists first overflew the area, they saw women and children in the open and no one appeared to be painted. It was only when the plane returned a few hours later that they saw these individuals covered head-to-toe in red. 'Tribes in the Amazon paint themselves for all kinds of different reasons - one of which includes when they feel threatened or are aggressive,' Ms Ross says.
'And they are almost certain to feel threatened by or aggressive towards a plane, which was where the photos were taken from. They are almost certain not to understand what the plane is - perhaps a spirit or a large bird.
'The jungle is fundamental to their lives and survival. It's their home, their source of food, the source of their culture etc. Without it, they could not exist as a people.'
Contact is usually a disaster for these remote tribespeople, who live a life probably unchanged for more than 10,000 years. Even if the loggers do not shoot them (which they often do) or force them off their land, diseases against which these isolated humans have no resistance typically wipe out half an uncontacted tribe's numbers in a year or two.
Ms Ross added: 'These pictures are further evidence that uncontacted tribes really do exist. The world needs to wake up to this, and ensure that their territory is protected in accordance with international law. Otherwise, they will soon be made extinct.'
Hey Michael Hanlon, how do you think these folks are going to feel when they find out their children didn’t have to die from a staff infection?
Liberalism = industrial feudalism.
OK then, send them whiskey, Winchesters, and fresh horses!
Wonder what’s tipping those arrows.
Because of the OTHER tribe.... You know, tweed suits with patched elbows, single malt scotch over ice, fights to the death over funding and their own strange and diverse behaviors in the face of real life.... You know... the anthropologists. No more feral humans, no more need for anthropologists.
/johnny
well, historically, contact between ‘primitive’ cultures and ‘cvilization’ usually ends up with the tribe’s being decimated, it not wiped out entirely. So, happier? Maybe not. Better off? Probably.
Uncontacted in this generation in the wilds. They can be contacted when they are shopping in town. 60s hippie commune.
"They're using our own smoke signals against us."
Where is another Margaret Meade to live amongst the natives to see how they “really” live?
I see a plethora of Obama absentee ballots here.
Looks like a screen capture from a video game to me.
Rolllll, Tiiiiide, Rollll!
So does he think that they know all about that bad history and that is why they act as they do? Ridiculous.
... if the UN has their way they’ll be sending condoms and free abortions.
Exactly! They look like followers of Rakanishu from Diablo II!
And for good reason. The history of contact, between indigenous tribes and the outside world, has always been an unhappy one.
These have to be the stupidest things ever written. The writer goes to great lengths to say these people have been un-contacted by the outside world. Yet he then says that the reason they want to be left alone is because of the history of contact between tribes like them and the rest of the outside world has always been bad. Well, how do they know the history of contact between tribes like them and the outside world?
Just for fun, they should have thrown down a couple of tasers and filmed the ensuing hilarity.
>> Rolllll, Tiiiiide, Rollll!
THAT was good for a belly-laugh!
Don't you know? Because all cultures are equal. All religions are equal. All attitudes are equal. All sexual preferences are equal. All governments are equal.
If these people want to paint themselves red and shoot arrows at airplanes, you should let them be. If they want to strap on suicide vests and blow up Israeli children, don't you dare make cartoons of their religious leaders. If they want to be sold into child labor as prostitutes to UN officials in Africa, then what business is it of yours. Who made you, your brother's keeper?
/choking on PC..help...aaggahhaggh
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