Houses built by Indians from Peru were found three miles within
the Brazilian border.
Illegal logging is displacing uncontacted tribes in Peru and forcing
them into Brazil, conservation groups say.
Photography by
Gleison Miranda/FUNAI
"Uncontacted" Tribes Fled Peru Logging, Arrows Suggest
Sabrina Valle
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
for National Geographic News
October 6, 2008
Arrows and abandoned camps found in remote western Brazil are fresh evidence of isolated Amazon tribes fleeing Peru to escape the encroachment of illegal loggers, indigenous rights groups say.
London-based Survival International said the arrows were recovered by Brazilian authorities near a site where photos were taken earlier this year of tribal people apparently shooting arrows at the photographer's airplane.
The tribes have been described as "uncontacted"—so remote that they may have had little or no substantive contact with the developed world.
Peruvian President Alan Garcia suggested last year that such indigenous groups might be an invention by those who were opposed to oil exploration.
Conservationists, scholars, and Brazilian government agencies that do recognize the isolated tribes have struggled to determine how best to protect them, an effort that has spurred calls for Peru to stop the illegal logging and development that is displacing the indigenous people
