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The Last Uncontacted Tribe

Over the last several years, I’ve read and heard stories about a tribe of people living in Brazil that have not made formal contact with groups outside of their own. They are by some estimates the last uncontacted tribe of people in the world.

This video taken by the BBC for their amazing Human Planet series if the first aerial footage of these people ever taken.

An anthropology professor in college told me that they actual fired arrows at a helicopter the first time they saw one, because they didn’t know what it was. That reminds me a bit of Avatar, though I hate to admit it.

Unfortunately, also like Avatar, illegal loggers have begun moving in to the area and encroaching on their land. The government is refusing to admit they exist, and there is fear that if the loggers make contact, the results would be disasterous for the people that live there.

If illegal loggers contact these people, they won't shoot photos. They'll shoot guns. - Jose Carlos Morales

In addition to violence, disease and destruction of habit are also big concerns. Learn more at UncontactedTribes.org.

Via Swiss Miss