Amazon - Brazil - In the Vale do Javari Indigenous Area there are 1,350 uncontacted indigenous people!

One of the most fascinating stories I read in 2003 was published in National Geographic`s magazine. It was about the Flecheiros, also called the Arrow People, who is a small tribe figure among 17 so-called uncontacted tribes living in the far recesses of the Brazilian Amazon. Sydnes Possuelo leaded the expedition who searched for this tribe. He is a former head of FUNAI, and responsible for Brazil's ground-breaking policy of mapping out and protecting the land of uncontacted Indians, without making contact with them. Possuelo turned Brazil's policy around after witnessing the devastating effects of contact missions he took part in himself in the 1970s.

In this part of the rain forest, the Vale do Javari Indigenous Area, there may be as many as 1,350 uncontacted indigenous people. According to National Geographic, this area cover probably the largest such concentration anywhere in the world.

Most of them are descendants of the survivors of massacres perpetrated by white intruders over the centuries. Indians escaped, become scattered and therefore continued to avoid contact with the outside world. So what's best for them? To stay isolated from the rest of the world, or "civilized" as the rest of us? If we in one another way should note that some Indigenous people need medical help or something else, should we then enter their area in order to assist them?

Photos. The large Amazon jungle hides many secrets. © Per Henriksen. Reiseliv - www.Reiseliv.no.  

I have noticed that there are an increasing number of tour operators taking travellers into to certain areas around the world where tribes live undisturbed. The tour operators offer tailored itineraries and programs for groups and independent travellers as well as explorers, adventurers, tour outfitters, institutions and other organizations.

There are over 200 indigenous territories still unrecognised by the Brazilian government. The many uncontacted Indian peoples still facing annihilation. It's hard for they who get affected by intruders to adapt to the modern lifestyle, but this is not the only reason for their threats and problems. Some people from Indian tribes, who have been contacted for along time ago live as roadside squatters and beggars. It's because they have been thrown off their land.

It sounds so great when tour operators state in their mission that they promote environmentally responsible travel, and ensure that both natural resources and local communities will benefit from it. For them it is big business, but what's in it for the Indigenous people?

Photo. The men in the Assurinieene tribe in Amazon fish in their traditional way. © Per Henriksen. Reiseliv - www.Reiseliv.no .   The women in the tribe cook food and take care of the children.

Some people consider it as an honour to receive guests, but other like to keep for themselves. So here is not always easy to do it the right way for eager travellers. In many cases explorers have mix feelings about contacting other people living in remote areas. At one side, they are curious and want to see how the people live, and at the other side, they want the people to live undisturbed.

First and foremost, all indegenous people deserve to be respected as well as other people. It`s the same all over the world, not only in the Amazon. In countries and territories as for example Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Borneo, Iran Jaya and Central Africa, there are still people who live isolated, and are more or less uncontacted.

Stein Morten Lund, 3 February 2006

Additional information

The Brazilian explorer and social activist Sydney Possuelo believes his country's uncontacted Indians should remain isolated. He is representing FUNAI, which is an organisation for protecting Indigenous people`s interest in Brazil. Why, then, is he risking his life to find them without contacting them?

Read more about it on National Geographic`s website - see direct link to article: Searching for an uncontacted tribe.

You can also get the whole story in National Geographic`s printed magazine.