Uncontacted Amazon Tribe Filmed, Governments Take Notice (VIDEO)

Worldwide attention has turned to the Peru-Brazil border where uncontacted Indians live, and the South American countries are finally feeling the pressure to protect them.

Survival International's campaign with newly released photos of the tribe, followed by a breathtakingly haunting film by the BBC, has raised awareness of one of the last uncontacted tribes in the world.

The BBC film, narrated by actor Gillian Anderson was made in collaboration with the Brazilian government for the new BBC 1 'Human Planet' series. Shooting from a kilometer away with a powerful zoom lens in order to minimize disturbance, the BBC crew captures gardens, homes, and people covered in red body paint. An undisturbed civilization. Unfortunately, it may not remain this way.

Illegal loggers have entered the Peru side, forcing the Indians into Brazil. Jose Carlos Meirelles, a member of the Indian Affairs Dept. in Brazil, is responsible for monitoring the land and proving that the tribe exists. According to him, "This footage is the only way to convince the rest of the world that they are here. If illegal loggers or miners contact these people, they won't shoot images... they'll shoot guns."

Until now, there has been little success in preventing the loggers from taking over the land. As Gillian Anderson reports, "Instead of expelling the loggers, Peru's government has suggested that uncontacted tribes don't exist at all." But that seems to be changing, as Peru's authorities have just announced that they plan to work with Brazil to stop the loggers from entering Indian territory. Survival's Director Stephen Corry holds hope for the future, stating, "This is a really encouraging first step, let's hope their declared intention turns into real action quickly."

EDITOR'S NOTE: Unfounded allegations have been made that this video is a hoax because similar photos of the same tribe that were released in 2008 were incorrectly reported in the media as being an "undiscovered" tribe, thus leading to rumors of them being fake. CLICK HERE for more info on the "hoax" rumors being debunked in 2008.

WATCH this uncontacted tribe:

Comments

[jh2]

01:57 PM on 03/08/2011

Seems to bring to life the story of "The Last of the Tribe"

[DrFelch]

09:04 AM on 02/09/2011

So, why not contact them? Then, they could love along with us in this great, big, beautiful modern world we all love so much, right? They could study law, and be like that Phil Hartman character on SNL. " Your Honor, I'm just a guy from one of the last uncontacted primitive tribes on earth. I have no knowledge of your strange ways. Your world frightens and confuses me"

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

03:43 PM on 02/08/2011

This makes me want to run off into the woods and live off the land again...it really does.

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

03:37 PM on 02/08/2011

Wow...how beautiful! I love that they paint their bodies RED..to match he clay earth so as not to be seen. Just beautiful!

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

03:36 PM on 02/08/2011

Soon enough, they'll cut those forests for COW PASTURES..... as is being done every day.

[Pravitus Gadabout]

03:27 PM on 02/08/2011

1000 meters constitutes 'contact" in my book.

[amylynnc]

11:05 PM on 02/07/2011

For those interested in learning more about everyday indigenous life in the remote Peruvian Amazon, please visit www.ninosdelaamazonia.org You will see amazing photos, all of them taken by the indigenous children who live there. It is a unique, intimate perspective and a true document of their realities. Thank you.

[Lahonda]

10:20 PM on 02/07/2011

Good luck with that.

[Survival International]

08:07 PM on 02/07/2011

The term "uncontacted" is commonly misunderstood. It is used to describe tribes that have had no peaceful contact with people in mainstream society. Uncontacted tribes are certainly in contact with neighboring tribes, which is how they obtain metal goods likes machetes and pots - through inter-tribal trading networks. The lens used to photograph the tribe has a powerful zoom capacity; the images were taken from a kilometer away, and were taken in order to help bring awareness to the life-threatening problems tribes like this one face. Please follow this link to read the answers to frequently asked questions and common misconceptions: http://www.survivalinternational.org/articles/3109-questions-and-answers-uncontacted-tribes

[MrJoyboy]

04:15 PM on 02/07/2011

Whoops--this was just a set for a new James Cameron movie.

[Ajita Kamal]

03:46 PM on 02/07/2011

Bananas are indigenous to South Asia and were introduced into South America by the Europeans. The plant is now an invasive species in South America (along with the mango which is also of South Asian origin), and its possible that over the centuries it has spread through the Amazon rainforest to be picked up for cultivation by these tribe. But I can't help feeling this is an incredible coincidence (the fact that they are cultivating bananas) given the relatively (in evolutionary terms) short time period.

Also, the video mentions illegal Peruvian loggers who drove the tribe into Brazil. Contact has been made alright. These are not completely isolated people. In fact, given the number of tribes and their proximity in the region,its highly likely that there is even some interbreeding between this tribe and other tribes in the area that are in contact with civilization.

[nootrope]

03:27 PM on 02/07/2011

Give them iPads and a mcdonald's lunch, teach them christianity, and they'll be fine.

[No stinking fans]

02:07 PM on 02/07/2011

Sounds a little fishy to me. If this tribe is uncontacted, then how do they know that the body paint is made from crushed seeds from the trees?

[steve11407]

02:35 PM on 02/07/2011

Your brain is fishy to me. What did the ancient Egyptians use for paintings in the tombs of the Pharaohs?

[No stinking fans]

03:27 PM on 02/07/2011

You totally missed my point.
How did the authors of the article know what they made the paint from if they never contacted them Bozo.

[ProfessorBrooks]

01:56 PM on 02/07/2011

Such tribes may seem marginal or unimportant to modern people--standing in the way of needed development and all--but these rare few tribes left on earth are one of the few ways to study "humanity" itself. We have been so saturated by the conditioning of culture for so many thousands of years that it is no longer possible to really say what humans "naturally" are. When we look at paleolithic artifacts, like cave paintings and fertility figures--made by early humans long before writing existed to describe their meaning--we are only able to understand them, to a degree, by comparing them to similar constructions by modern stone age tribes like Aboriginees or the Ainu of northern Japan. When this last surviving heritage of human origins is gone, we will have irrevocably lost contact with a piece of who we are.

[MichaelOinMunich]

04:51 PM on 02/07/2011

But how many people, unfortunately, really care about their human heritage? How many care about being able to grow their own food, even if minimally? Speaking more than one language? Working with their hands? We are in a very small minority indeed.

[Devontate]

01:21 PM on 02/07/2011

Something about this feels uncomfortably voyeuristic.