Brazil and Peru: Uncontacted tribe photographed near border!

Photo. Uncontacted Indians in Brazil seen from the air, May 2008. © Gleison Miranda/FUNAI: Uncontacted Indians in Brazil, May 2008. This photo shows two Indian men covered in bright red pigment poised to fire arrows at the aircraft while another Indian looks on.

Many are under increasing threat from illegal logging over the border in Peru. Survival International (www.Survival-International.org) estimates that there are over 100 uncontacted tribes worldwide.

Uncontacted tribes expert José Carlos dos Reis Meirelles Júnior, who works for FUNAI, the Brazilian government's Indian affairs department, said the intention of photographing the Indians was to prove their existence.

It`s also reported from the observers that the group`s numbers are increasing. But other uncontacted groups in the region, are in severe danger from illegal logging in Peru. Logging is driving uncontacted tribes over the border and could lead to conflict with the estimated five hundred uncontacted Indians already living on the Brazilian side.

Photo. Uncontacted Indians in Brazil seen from the air, May 2008. © Gleison Miranda/FUNAI.This photo shows about 15 Indians near thatched huts. Some of them aimed with bows and arrows at the aircraft.

The region Acre, where the mentioned tribe was observed, is covered mostly by the jungle of the Amazon Rainforest. Acre is a state of Brazil, located in the north-western part of the country. To the north is the state of Amazonas, to the east is a short border with the state of Rondônia, to the south is Bolivia and to the west is the Ucayali Region of Peru.

There are more than one hundred uncontacted tribes worldwide, with more than half living in either Brazil or Peru. All are in grave danger of being forced off their land, killed and decimated by new diseases. Survival has launched an urgent campaign to get their land protected, and a unique film narrated by actress Julie Christie.

"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," said Stephen Corry, the director of Survival International, which supports tribal people around the world.

Read more on Survival International`s website (see article): Uncontaced tribe Amazon.

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

Stein Morten Lund, 1 June 2008
(based on information from Survival International`s report 29 May 2008 and e-mail contact with the organisation).

Additional information
Act now to help uncontacted Indians:
Follow Survival International`s (www.Survival-International.org) request. Please write a letter to Peru’s president asking him to recognise his country’s isolated Indians’ land rights – and by doing so protect uncontacted peoples on both sides of the Peru-Brazil border.

Early Day Motion 88 calls on the UK government to ratify the international law for tribal peoples; ask your MP to sign. Go to http://www.survival-international.org/campaigns/law

Survival International helps tribal peoples defend their lives, protect their lands and determine their own futures.