Confirmed: Uncontacted tribe in Amazon
The Brazilian government has confirmed the existence of an uncontacted tribe in a southwestern area of the Amazon rain forest.
The National Indian Foundation said that clearings in the area were identified by satellite, but the population’s existence was only verified after airplane expeditions in April. The community is near the Peruvian border in the massive Vale do Javari reservation, which is nearly the size of Portugal and is home to at least 14 uncontacted tribes.
The discovery has raised concerns among tribal advocates who point to the unintended consequences of past interactions between tribes and outsiders. Common diseases, such as influenza or measles, spread through native tribal populations with deadly effect. At the same time, they noted that the push by land-hungry ranchers and developers into the Amazon over the course of the last couple of decades also posed new challenges for tribes who make their homes in the region.