Photo of Amazon Tribe Not a Hoax

[Bianca]

Members of an unknown Amazon Basin tribe and their dwellings
are seen during a flight over the Brazilian state of Acre along
the border with Peru in this May, 2008 photo distributed by

FUNAI, the government agency for the protection of
indigenous peoples.

REUTERS/Funai-Frente de Prote







                                                    Photo of Amazon Tribe Not a Hoax






Robin Lloyd
Senior Editor
LiveScience.com
June 24, 2008

Recent photos of an "uncontacted tribe" of Indians near the Brazil-Peru border have sparked media reports of a hoax, but the organization that released the images defends its claims and actions.
 
The photographs, which showed men painted red and black and aiming arrows skyward, were released in late May by Survival International, a London-based organization that advocates for tribal people worldwide. The release stated that "members of one of the world's last uncontacted tribes have been spotted and photographed from the air," and quoted the Brazilian government photographer saying, "there are some who doubt [the tribe's] existence" as justification for flying over the site and taking the pictures.


Some of the media published the images at the time with stories saying the tribe previously had been "lost." In fact, a LiveScience column stated that the tribe had "escaped discovery" until the new photos came out.


This week, suspicions about the organization's motivations and the authenticity of the scene were raised. On June 22, The Observer, a London-based newspaper, ran a story, "Secret of the 'lost' tribe that wasn't," saying that the tribe's existence "has been noted since 1910." A succession of other stories followed on the Web, claiming that reports of the tribe's discovery were a hoax.

[Bianca]

No hoax


Today, Survival International released a statement to try to clarify things, including: "The story is not a hoax, and none of those involved in working to protect these Indians' rights have ever claimed they were 'undiscovered.'"


Survival never claimed that the tribe was lost. The story got out of control, says Fiona Watson, Survival's Brazil expert, as a result of irresponsible reporting.


"Some of the media got very carried away and started talking about undiscovered tribes," Watson told LiveScience. "There was this interpretation that this was a completely new tribe, completely undiscovered, without bothering to check with sources. Neither the Brazilian government nor Survival has ever used that word, and 'uncontacted' means they don't have any contact with outsiders."


Survival International's Web site includes a page about "uncontacted tribes," here, which states that more than 100 uncontacted tribes are known worldwide, with more than half living in either Brazil or Peru. These tribes, "whilst not 'lost,' simply reject contact with the outside world," according to Survival's statement today.


Survival campaigns to protect the tribes' land.


The recently photographed tribe might have had contact with neighboring tribal groups, Watson said, adding, "We don't know. They almost certainly know about the outside world. We mean 'having no physical contact,' living in a very isolated way in the Amazon."


"Flying over in an airplane doesn't constitute contact," she said.


The Observer journalist failed to do his homework, Watson said. If he had, "he would have seen that we've been talking about the existence of the tribe for some time now. Of course we know they are there, but there has been no contact," Watson said.

[Bianca]

Respecting rights


Watson agreed that the Brazilian government has known about the tribe since 1910, and said the government has had a policy of no contact with the tribe since 1988 in an effort to protect them from illnesses.


"It's about respecting their rights to live their lives as they want to, letting them get on with their lives," she said. "In 20 years, they may decide they do want to come out of the forest, but that's for them to decide. It's about protecting the land and letting them live as they wish to."


The photos were taken to prove to the Peruvian government that the Brazilian tribe exists because there have been challenges controlling illegal logging near the border and the logging might be pushing Peruvian tribes into Brazil and into conflict over resources with Brazilian tribes, Watson said.


The photos have had a positive effect already, she said. The Peruvian government has since "formed a commission of experts to look into the illegal logging and into the status of the uncontacted groups on the Peru side," Watson said.

And would Survival International do anything differently with the recent photo campaign, if they had it to do over?

"Nope," said Survival's Miriam Ross.

[Bianca]

                                           Leave Amazon tribe alone, Brazil says






Posted Sat May 31, 2008


 
Survival International says the photos disprove Peruvian claims that the land is vacant
(www.survival-international.org: Gleison Miranda/FUNAI)



Brazilian officials have taken photos of the isolated tribe living on the border between Brazil and Peru.

The Government says it released the photos to prove the existence of the tribe and to protect the tribe's land from illegal logging.

Fiona Watson from the indigenous rights group, Survival International, says the photos disprove Peruvian claims that the land is vacant.

The group says the discovery highlights the danger that encroaching civilisation poses to the Amazon.

"These people are very fearful, they've got their bows and arrows, they're shooting up at the plane," she said.

"They clearly want to be left alone. For these people to survive they must have their land rights recognised and protected."

One of the pictures can be seen on Survival International's website, which shows two Indian men covered in bright red pigment poised to fire arrows at the aircraft while another Indian looks on.

Another photo shows about 15 Indians near thatched huts, some of them also preparing to fire arrows at the aircraft.

"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," Survival International director Stephen Corry said.

Brazil's National Indian Foundation, which took the photographs, says illegal loggers from Peru are encroaching on the territory of remote tribes, and is hoping the publicity can help prevent invasions of their land.

Anthropologist Jose Carlos Meireles says any contact would be a last resort.

"Making contact with them would be our last alternative," he said.

"We'd only make contact with them if they're threatened, so, in that case it would no longer be considering contacting them - it would be rescuing them."

Of more than 100 un-contacted tribes worldwide, more than half live in either Brazil or Peru, Survival International says.



- BBC/Reuters

[Bianca]

                                                Uncontacted tribe photos no hoax






24 June 2008

The British newspaper The Observer claimed on 22 June that it has now ‘emerged’ that the uncontacted tribe whose photos received worldwide publicity were neither ‘lost’, nor 'undiscovered' nor ‘unknown’.

Other newspapers that have picked up the article have gone further and said that the story was a ‘hoax’.

The story is not a hoax, and none of those involved in working to protect these Indians’ rights have ever claimed they were ‘undiscovered’.

In response to the allegations, Survival International’s director Stephen Corry today issued the following statement:

‘The Observer article claims to ‘reveal’ that the tribe photographed was neither ‘lost’ nor ‘unknown’. The reality is that neither Survival nor the Brazilian government claimed they were:

• When Survival published the photos, we quoted José Carlos dos Reis Meirelles, the Brazilian official who released them, saying, ‘We did the overflight to show their houses, to show they are there…’ As Mr Meirelles said when the Brazilian government released the photos, the Indians’ territory has been monitored for twenty years.

• These Indians are in a reserve expressly set aside for the protection of uncontacted tribes: they were hardly ‘unknown’!

• A glance at Survival’s publications would also ‘reveal’ that we have been campaigning for the protection of the uncontacted Indians of this region for more than twenty years.

‘What is, and remains, true, is that so far as is known these Indians have no peaceful contact with outsiders. The publication of the pictures has pushed the Peruvian government into investigating their plight, a huge step forward given that just a few months ago Peru’s President publicly questioned whether uncontacted Indians exist at all.

‘This latest controversy reveals more about media attitudes than it does about isolated tribal peoples. Some journalists apparently don’t want to recognise that there are in fact many uncontacted tribes around the world – we estimate about 100 – which, whilst not ‘lost’, simply reject contact with the outside world. Given the massacres and atrocities so many of them have experienced, it’s a perfectly sensible attitude.’




For further information please contact Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or email mr@survival-international.org


Read Survival's press release of 29 May about the photographs

Read the statement from FUNAI (the Brazilian government's Indian Affairs department) of 29 May

Watch Survival's short film ‘Uncontacted Tribes’



Act now to help the Uncontacted Indians

Your efforts are crucial in defending the Uncontacted Tribes. Get involved in this urgent effort in the following ways.

Writing a letter to the Peruvian government can make a real difference.

Donate to the Uncontacted Indians campaign (and other Survival campaigns).

Write to your MP or MEP (UK) or Senators and members of Congress (US).
 
Write to your local Peruvian embassy.

If you want to get more involved, contact Survival



(www.survival-international.org: Gleison Miranda/FUNAI)

[Bianca]

The Indians pictured are of the Matis tribe, of the Yavarí Valley in Brazil.
They bear many cultural and linguistic similarities to other tribes in Peru








                                                    New Tribe Spotted in Peruvian Amazon!





October 4, 2007
From BBC News

A previously unknown indigenous group living in isolation has been found deep in Peru’s Amazon jungle, a team of ecologists has said. The ecologists spotted the 21 Indians near the Brazilian border as they flew overhead looking for illegal loggers.

The group was photographed and filmed from the air on the banks of the Las Piedras River in Peru’s south-eastern Amazon region.

A government official who was on the flight said there were three palm huts on the river bank.

“We’ve found five other sites with this kind of shelter along the same river,” Ricardo Hon told Associated Press news agency.

__________

Get more info from the original article at BBC News.–While you’re there, make a point to check out the links to other articles about Peruvian Indians in the news. The links can be found at the top of the right-hand column.

Find an INCREDIBLE resource for information on Native Amazonian tribes (including maps, photos*, videos, illustrations of different ceremonies- like the ‘Poison Frog Ceremony’- and MUCH more!) at

www.Amazon-Indians.org,
www.Matses.info, and
www.Amazonz.info.


*please be aware that there is ‘National Geographic’ style nudity in the photos at these sites. These are native Natives.



Photo credit: Amazon-Indians.org, with many thanks! The Indians pictured are of the Matis tribe, of the Yavarí Valley in Brazil. They bear many cultural and linguistic similarities to other tribes in Peru. You can find out more about that at the site.

[Bianca]

                                      Ancient Tribes and Modern Civilization Don't Mix






Christopher Wanjek
LiveScience's
Bad Medicine Columnist
LiveScience.com
Tue Jul 1, 2008
 
Arial photographs released in May by the Brazilian government of an "uncontacted" tribe deep in the Amazon
have generated a sense of wonderment back here in civilization.   Even today, in this age of computers and globalization, there still exists groups of humans living as their ancestors have lived, basically unchanged for thousands of years.
 
This tribe and similar ones in "Brazil" and particularly near the Brazilian and Peruvian "border" - words that
mean nothing to these people - have been known about but likely have had no contact with outside groups
for generations or perhaps ever.


And so, the society that has created Star Trek is asking, what do we do now?  Shall we teach them demo-
cracy and how to French kiss?


These indigenous Amazonian societies may seem alien, but theirs is a life much like ours, with joy and sorrow, comfort and hardship, pleasure and pain. 


The biggest health misconception is that we, with our modern technology, can improve their quality of life. 
This has rarely been true.  Nearly every encounter between an indigenous group and so-called modern
society has been disastrous for the former.





Playing Adam and Eve


But first, another misconception:  that life in the Amazon is a Garden of Eden, where innocent natives lie
around in hammocks all day as food falls from trees and into their bowls. 


Like the biblical Garden, there are indeed snakes, many of which are deadly.  There are also various in-
fectious diseases that prevent many babies from growing into adults and that prevent many adults from
living past age 60.


But even Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy can't improve their health.  Interaction with outside groups inevita-
bly brings foreign diseases, a loss of culture, depression and a decrease in the quality of life and life ex-
pectancy.


Change, for these people, is far deadlier than yellow fever or other dangers of the rain forest. 





Happy Columbus Day


The results of Europe's conquest of the Americas are well known.  Nearly 90 percent of the indigenous
populations were wiped out, often by wholesale slaughter but mostly through the introduction of disease
and subsequent despair.


By the 20th century, however, the threat faced by indigenous populations became more insidious - a life
devoid of life.  One can witness this today on many Native American reservations in the United States
and Canada, with epidemic levels of depression, suicide, alcoholism and diabetes, a disease that never
existed in these cultures before the introduction of the white man with his white sugar and white bread.


In Australia, Aborigines forced to resettle live ten years less on average than those still living on their native homelands and up to 20 years less than non-indigenous Australians, according to data compiled by Survival International, a UK-based group advocating for indigenous peoples.


As with Native Americans and, for that matter, many of the populations in the South Pacific Islands, Aborigines
are faced with astonishingly high rates of diabetes - as high as 50 percent in some communities - along with
the depression that comes from a loss of culture and livelihood. 





Primitive understanding


Clashes with natives live on today in Southeast Asia and the Amazon, where within the last 50 years almost
every encounter has brought a sharp decline in the length and quality of life.  Threats to these populations
include loggers, who lay barren their land, and evangelists, who perhaps with good intentions eradicate their culture.


Whose life is better - theirs or ours - can never be determined, for the answer is subjective.  We have real
joys, such as the ability to travel and learn about the world.  They have joys we cannot comprehend.

The "uncontacted" tribes of the Amazon are not primitive; it takes an advanced culture to survive in this
dangerous natural terrain.  The only thing primitive is our notion that what we have is better and needs
to be forced upon them.