Posted on 05/30/2008 3:55:58 PM PDT by marthemaria
Dramatic photographs ofpreviously unfound Amazon Indians have highlighted theprecariousness of the few remaining "lost" tribes and thedangers they face from contact with outsiders.
The bow-and-arrow wielding Indians in the pictures releasedon Thursday are likely the remnants of a larger tribe who wereforced deeper into the forest by encroaching settlement,experts said.
Rather than being "lost", they have likely had plenty ofcontact with other indigenous groups over the years, saidThomas Lovejoy, an Amazon expert who is president of The HeinzCenter in Washington.
"I think there is an ethical question whether you can inthe end keep them from any contact and I think the answer tothat is no," Lovejoy said.
"The right answer is to have the kind of contact and changethat the tribes themselves manage the pace of it."
The Brazil-Peru border area is one of the world's lastrefuges for such groups, with more than 50 uncontacted tribesthought to live there out of the estimated 100 worldwide.
They are increasingly at risk from development, especiallyon the Peruvian side which has been slower than Brazil torecognize protected areas for indigenous people.
Jose Carlos Meirelles, an official with Brazil's Indianprotection agency who was on the helicopter that overflew thetribe, said they should be left alone as much as possible.
"While we are getting arrows in the face, it's fine," hetold Brazil's Globo newspaper. "The day that they arewell-behaved, they are finished."
Contact with outsiders has historically been disastrous forBrazil's Indians, who now number about 350,000 compared to upto 5 million when the first Europeans arrived.
"In 508 years of history, out of the thousands of tribesthat exist none have adapted well to society in Brazil," saidSydney Possuelo, a former official with Brazil's Indianprotection agency who founded its isolated tribes department.
CONCERN OVER PERU POLICY
In recent years, though, tribes like the Yanomami havesucceeded in winning greater protection by becoming morepolitically organized and forming links with foreignconservationists.
"It's not about making that decision for them. It's aboutmaking time and space to make that decision themselves," saidDavid Hill of the Survival International group.
More than half of the Murunahua tribe in Peru died of coldsand other illness after they were contacted as a result ofdevelopment for the first time in 1996, Hill said.
Sightings of such tribes are not uncommon, occurring onceevery few years in the Brazil-Peru border area where there areestimated to be more than 50 out of the total global number of100 uncontacted tribes.
In 1998, a 200-strong tribe was discovered by Possueloliving in huts under the forest canopy, also in Acre state nearthe Brazil-Peru border.
In September last year, ecologists looking for illegalloggers in Peru spotted a little-known nomadic tribe deep inthe Amazon.
The sighting underscored worries among rights groups thatoil and gas exploration being pushed by the Peruviangovernment, as well as logging, is putting tribes at risk.
Peru has no equivalent to Brazil's long-standing Indianaffairs department, which has a policy of no contact withunknown tribes.
"There is a lot of logging going on over on the Peruvianside," Hill said. "It's had all kinds of effects on the groupsliving there, particularly on the uncontacted groups -- it'sled to violent conflicts and deaths."
In May, Peru's petroleum agency Perupetro said it wouldexclude areas where isolated tribes live from an auction of oiland gas concessions. Perupetro had been under pressure to limitexploration activities near tribal areas, and had cast doubt onthe existence of isolated groups, angering activists.
I understand that, but that was then and this is now.
These people probably have nothing at all to contribute to our understanding of the world. By definition, they are primitive.
I don't really care whether they can avoid us for a couple hundred years or not, but eventually this planet will become totally civilized.
Whether we want to keep some pet humans under glass and feed them crickets is a decision the leftists will have to make.
I detect the faint scent of sarcasm :)
Because the AmerIndians didn't have the epidemic variety for the most part.
Most contagious diseases are carried by or come by living in close proximity to animals. Think bird flu, camel pox and so forth.
There weren't a lot of domesticated animals in the Americas. Dogs, ducks, turkeys, llamas pretty much covers it. And those type of animals tend to have fewer human transmittable diseases then pigs, chickens or horses.
I say leave them alone and let them live their lives the way they want.
I don't really care whether they can avoid us for a couple hundred years or not, but eventually this planet will become totally civilized.
Ever been to an NBA game?
These poor Injuns don't know what they're in for. Civilization an' all.
You think pictures of your mama are filthy?
Then stop looking at them.
Sissyboy.
Strange. That’s what your mom said you would say. You might not recognize her when I send her home because I shaved her back. Still want to help out?
They are **not** pets in a tree museum. It is for them to determine their destiny. We shouldn't kill them by exposing them to Western diseases, and we shouldn't let them be cheated out of what is rightfully theirs.
As for be approached by people from the outside:
They are likely just as susceptible to Western diseases as were the Native Americans who greeted Columbus. I seriously would not want 90% of them to die because they were exposed to a flu virus, measles, chicken pox, mumps,...etc.
For this reason, the first people approaching them really must be healthy themselves so that they do not contaminate this aboriginal group with a disease. This includes even something simple as a common cold.
Once approached, they need to be kindly persuaded, if at all possible, to accept vaccination.
Regarding property rights:
If they have property, mineral, logging, and water usage rights, ( under the law), they seriously need legal counsel, with lawyers ( or others) who are dedicated to their rights. Large tracts of land may be involved here. If I would need legal assistance to manage such complex issues, they will as well.
They said to send lawyers.
And ketchup.
This is treating them like pets.
You would forbid others from contacting them? Would you do this through law enforcement? If, yes, then I disagree with you.
There is a huge world of medicines and technology, and forbidding contact with these aboriginals condemns them to living painful brutish lives, eating slugs, carrying parasites, high child mortality, and dying early from disease and deformity even if they do manage live to be 5 years old.
Careful contact should be made. Protect them as best as possible from contagious epidemic. Provide legal assistance to protect any land, logging, water, and mineral rights.
You can tell the guy with the bow to bend over he’s gonna get a shot and it ain’t gonna hurt a bit. The second guy in line has a bow, too.
My main point is that they cannot be kept isolated. Sooner or later, contact will be made. And, frankly, I consider it evil to allow them to remain in the Stone Age without even a knowledge of an alternative. What they choose to do afterwards is their choice. And either way, it will be uncomfortable for them.
But the musn’t be exploited and abandoned, that's for sure. And if they do come into civilization, they must become civilized.
They’ve survived in their own way since probably the Stone Age.
So?..You would like to see treated like pets, or perhaps you would have them preserved in formaldehyde?
Probably not but they are Stone Age now.
Huh? I would like to see them left alone.
If I’m ever stranded on an uncharted island, I’m pretty sure I can’t count on you to inquire whether I’d like to change my situation.
Different situation. I would think you would want to return to the environment that you are accustomed to, that you grew up in. Perhaps they would like to stay where things are familiar to them. We could, of course, offer them medicine and vaccinations, if you are able to gain their trust and make them understand exactly what it is you are doing. I don’t know understand exactly why people want them to not live the way they always have. They manage to survive, they have food sources and shelter and weapons, family and their own culture.
The debate isn’t whether to relocate them to apartments in a major Brazilian city or not.
The debate is whether it’s even permissible to go say “hi, I wonder if you need anything.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.