New Pictures Show "Uncontacted" Tribe "Well and Strong"

Nature's Bounty

Photograph courtesy Gleison Miranda, FUNAI/Survival

Zooming in on a larger picture, it becomes a little clearer why this "uncontacted" tribe is "well and strong," in the words of Meirelles.

At lower left, a basket brims with papaya and manioc, or cassava, is piled high, with peelings cast aside. Just inside the hut are two baskets, one showing a carrying strap and another covered with fresh banana leaves, perhaps to protect the contents. Other pictures show harvested maize, pumpkins, peanuts, and bananas.

"This tribe is the one in the best condition in the whole country," said Meirelles, who also led the air survey that captured the 2008 picture.

(Related: "Oil Exploration in Amazon Threatens 'Uncontacted' Tribes.")

Published February 2, 2011

Trees Offer Protection—And Danger

Photograph courtesy Gleison Miranda, FUNAI/Survival

Painted with red and black plant extracts, three of the isolated Indians observe the Brazilian-government helicopter in April 2010.

This specific tribe is not in imminent danger, but loggers in Peru are forcing other tribes into Brazil, where Indian reserves provide better protection, Meirelles said. (See "'Uncontacted' Tribes Fled Peru Logging, Arrows Suggest.")

"Some of the tribes in the region are historical enemies," he said. "We never know what might happen when they meet" and are forced to share land and food sources, he said.

There are three other tribes in the area, according to Meirelles. Across Brazil there are an estimated 70 isolated groups, although only 29 are confirmed, he said.

"There isn't a single group in the whole world nowadays who has not had any kind of contact with other people," he added. "They know we exist. They have just decided they don't want to make contact, and that's in their best interest."

The Acre-area tribes' first contacts with white men were in 1895, when rubber tappers arrived in this deep region of the Amazon rain forest, Meirelles said. "There have been reports depicting Indians using machetes from rubber tappers since 1905."

The latest pictures also show Indians wielding machetes and using metal pots.

(Related: "Photos Spur Debate on Protecting 'Uncontacted' Tribes.")

Published February 2, 2011

Community Garden

Photograph courtesy Gleison Miranda, FUNAI/Survival

In a tribal garden, a member of the isolated Amazon group is surrounded by banana trees and annatto trees—whose seeds yield the group's red body paint—in April 2010. The new pictures also reveal that the Indians harvest cotton from the rain forest and spin it into cloth worn around their waists.

Meirelles guesses that the tribe numbers around 300. "That's a rough estimation, based on the numbers of houses we can see from above and on the size of their planted area," he said. "But there is no way to do a census and get a precise number" without making contact.

More pictures of "uncontacted" and isolated tribes >>

Published February 2, 2011