Disease and death have plagued indigenous communities in South America since they first came into contact with outsiders from Europe in the 1500s. The indigenous populations had no immune protection against smallpox, measles, and flu, which wiped out thousands of communities. By 1984, when this photograph was taken of Indians who appeared from the forest one day at an oil exploration camp in eastern Peru, only a few isolated uncontacted communities survived. Today, the last remnants of indigenous Indians cling to their ancient way of life in secret isolation.

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