Brazilian Tribe: No First Contact. Ever.

[3113]

WHOA! Has anyone posted this news yet? Just in case no one has...it's mind blowing!

One of South America's few remaining uncontacted indigenous tribes has been spotted and photographed on the border between Brazil and Peru. The Brazilian government says it took the images to prove the tribe exists and help protect its land. The pictures, taken from an aeroplane, show red-painted tribe members brandishing bows and arrows. More than half the world's 100 uncontacted tribes live in Brazil or Peru, Survival International says.

Stephen Corry, the director of the group - which supports tribal people around the world - said such tribes would "soon be made extinct" if their land was not protected. Survival International says that although this particular group is increasing in number, others in the area are at risk from illegal logging.

The photos were taken during several flights over one of the most remote parts of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil's Acre region. They show tribe members outside thatched huts, surrounded by the dense jungle, pointing bows and arrows up at the camera. "We did the overflight to show their houses, to show they are there, to show they exist," the group quoted Jose Carlos dos Reis Meirelles Junior, an official in the Brazilian government's Indian affairs department, as saying.

"This is very important because there are some who doubt their existence."
He described the threats to such tribes and their land as "a monumental crime against the natural world" and "further testimony to the complete irrationality with which we, the 'civilised' ones, treat the world".

Disease is also a risk, as members of tribal groups that have been contacted in the past have died of illnesses that they have no defence against, ranging from chicken pox to the common cold.

This tribe has never been contacted by anyone. And evidently, there are 100 more like them! It sure blows my mind to think of that there's groups of humans that don't know and won't know...anything about what's been going on outside of their village. Everything we've all seen and done from wars to moon landings....

Wow.

 

[Edward Teach]

It really is remarkable that uncontacted tribes exist.

A military survival expert who taught armies in Central and South America once told me that he had never been in any place so remote that he couldn't find plastic bottles, aluminum cans, etc.

 

[scheherazade_79]

I hope they're left alone.

I've heard of other tribes being "contacted" for the first time and studied and documented... We don't need to do it again, so I hope they're left in peace.

Although I doubt they will be

 

[Liar]

I hope they're left alone.

I've heard of other tribes being "contacted" for the first time and studied and documented... We don't need to do it again, so I hope they're left in peace.

Although I doubt they will be

Well, I read about this in my local paper yesterday and it said that the reason they found the tribe was because they were monitoring the area to see how nearby illegal deforestation had affected the other, known and contacted tribes in the region.

So theit time is running out, it seems.

Here is an article with pictures.

 

[oggbashan]

The Sun newspaper had a cartoon yesterday of the tribe captioned something like:

Quick - hide the wide-screen TV and the Manchester United shirt. They've found us!

Og

 

[TxRad]

The Sun newspaper had a cartoon yesterday of the tribe captioned something like:

Quick - hide the wide-screen TV and the Manchester United shirt. They've found us!

Og

I think a couple have been visiting here as of late

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

Yeah, it's sad - time is indeed running out.

It was inevitable. No matter what steps are taken to protect the integrity of their habitat and culture - and I expect those may be almost heroic in most such cases today - once those people start to get hints of what comforts and conveniences the outside world has to offer it's only a matter of time.

I think the saddest book I ever read in was "Ishi - Last of his Tribe." There's my real answer to the scariest thing thread - being the last English speaker on the planet.

 

[impressive]

I wonder what they could teach us.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Are you kidding? Our civilization has libraries filled with lessons we ignore or sneer at. Why would we give these forest rats a 2nd thought?

 

[impressive]

So we don't all become like you, of course.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I appreciate my enemies because they reveal my character better than anything does.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Which is none.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

ZEB is my Ex

 

[Zeb_Carter]

No wonder...I would have left you sooner but I had to spend all your money before I left.

 

[impressive]

There is a HUGE difference between being an enemy and just being considered as something to scrape off the bottom of one's shoe.

But, you do have something in common with those jungle rats: I feel sorry for you both. They, because they'll eventually encounter the likes of you.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Stop! Youre talking out your ass, you know nothing about me.

 

[cloudy]

Stop! Youre talking out your ass, you know nothing about me.

Gee....there's someone that posts here that talks shit about everyone he doesn't know. Who was it again?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

CLOUDY is the real-life mother of Carrie White.

 

[cloudy]

CLOUDY is the real-life mother of Carrie White.

Thank you for proving my point quite nicely, and quickly, too.

 

[Guest]

I wonder what they could teach us.

So do I.

But I'm with sche - I imagine it won't be long before their innocence is corrupted by well-meaning but intrusive visitors.

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

"In this particular primitive tribe, the natives carried on minor vendettas by means of exchanging insults written on magic screens that conveyed them to the target, and also allowed any others in the tribe to view them as well. This was considered an effective means of avoiding bloodshed while still exercising the human penchant for engaging in conflict with other members of a community, which is most clearly observed in small villages."

~~~~

I think the news story is fascinating and remarkable, and potentially the basis for interesting and thoughtful discussion on matters anthropological.

 

[Guest]

"In this particular primitive tribe, the natives carried on minor vendettas by means of writing insults on magic screens that conveyed them to the target, and also allowed any others in the tribe to view them as well. This was considered an effective means of avoiding bloodshed while still exercising the human penchant for engaging in conflict with other members of a community, which is most clearly observed in small villages."

Etch-a-sketch?

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

Etch-a-sketch?

Deeper magic - very mysterious indeed.

(BTW, not pointing any fingers, or even condemning what is actually a mildly amusing display by big boys and girls who are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves. )

 

[where]

The Sun newspaper had a cartoon yesterday of the tribe captioned something like:

Quick - hide the wide-screen TV and the Manchester United shirt. They've found us!

Og

Ouch! I feel guilty for laughing at that!

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

My undergrad major was anthropology. I dont think primative people are interesting at all. They believe in sorcery and magic, and we believe in social security and free lunches.

SARAH I do believe ETCH-A-SKETCH is the most complex word youve ever posted here.