Uncontacted tribe spotted in Brazil

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7426794.stm

Isolated tribe spotted in Brazil

One of South America's few remaining uncontacted indigenous tribes has been spotted and photographed on the border between Brazil and Peru.

The Brazilian government says it took the images to prove the tribe exists and help protect its land.

The pictures, taken from an aeroplane, show red-painted tribe members brandishing bows and arrows.

More than half the world's 100 uncontacted tribes live in Brazil or Peru, Survival International says.

Stephen Corry, the director of the group - which supports tribal people around the world - said such tribes would "soon be made extinct" if their land was not protected.

'Monumental crime'

Survival International says that although this particular group is increasing in number, others in the area are at risk from illegal logging.

   

The photos were taken during several flights over one of the most remote parts of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil's Acre region.

They show tribe members outside thatched huts, surrounded by the dense jungle, pointing bows and arrows up at the camera.

"We did the overflight to show their houses, to show they are there, to show they exist," the group quoted Jose Carlos dos Reis Meirelles Junior, an official in the Brazilian government's Indian affairs department, as saying.

"This is very important because there are some who doubt their existence."

He described the threats to such tribes and their land as "a monumental crime against the natural world" and "further testimony to the complete irrationality with which we, the 'civilised' ones, treat the world".

Disease is also a risk, as members of tribal groups that have been contacted in the past have died of illnesses that they have no defence against, ranging from chicken pox to the common cold.

[Balog]

Sweet, one step closer to Armageddon.

[charby]

[Harold Tuttle]

it would appear they have now seen a helicopter

[The Annoyed Man]

Hm. Wonder if I can sell them some glass beads?

[Lennyjoe]

Interesting. Now leave them the hell alone. They've survived this long on their own. The gov should tell the damn tree cutters to knock it off and leave them folks some forest so they can hunt and survive.

[K Frame]

But we must bring civilization to these naked savages!

If we don't, they will continue to be naked savages and won't be able to benefit from the miracles of credit cards, cell phones, and reruns of Friends!

If they refuse to be civilized, we must slaughter them to save them.

[Lennyjoe]

Yea, exactly. 

[The Annoyed Man]

But we must bring civilization to these naked savages!

If we don't, they will continue to be naked savages and won't be able to benefit from the miracles of credit cards, cell phones, and reruns of Friends!

If they refuse to be civilized, we must slaughter them to save them.

Don't forget glass beads. Can't civilize people without having them buying glass beads first. THEN we can civilize them, and let them into such fantastic things as property taxes, census forms and democracy!

[280plus]

No, I believe the correct procedure is whiskey and then smallpox...

[mtnbkr]

You left out the Syphilis.

Chris

[Balog]

But we must bring civilization to these naked savages!

If we don't, they will continue to be naked savages and won't be able to benefit from the miracles of credit cards, cell phones, and reruns of Friends!

If they refuse to be civilized, we must slaughter them to save them.

And refrigeration, more than subsistance level agriculture, vaccinations etc etc. If you were really so enamored of a Dark Ages lifestyle you'd be living in the jungles eating grubs too.

Colonial powers treatment of native peoples has often been exploitive..... doesn't mean a stone age lifestyle is better.

[xavier fremboe]

We mustn't forget to confiscate those weapons.

[Tallpine]

Too bad they didn't shoot down the chopper with their arrows 

[Manedwolf]

No, I believe the correct procedure is whiskey and then smallpox...

Smallpox blankets are outdated. The new version is poison FEMA trailers.

[The Annoyed Man]

To be serious for a minute, how cool is it that these people having been living in this area for God knows how long, and despite all of our great technological advances, we just now discovered their very existence.  I find it simply amazing to be reminded just how little we do know in this day and age when people think that we know it all.  imagine what's left here to discover, much less out there beyond the Moon.  Too cool.

[Manedwolf]

To be serious for a minute, how cool is it that these people having been living in this area for God knows how long, and despite all of our great technological advances, we just now discovered their very existence.  I find it simply amazing to be reminded just how little we do know in this day and age when people think that we know it all.  imagine what's left here to discover, much less out there beyond the Moon.  Too cool.

Bottom of the ocean, too. Lots of biologists were stunned when they discovered chemosynthesis around the deep ocean vents.

I'm also astonished at some of the possible planets they're finding around other stars. One they found appears to be of a composition where there's clouds of metal vapor, and it rains molten iron. That would be incredible to see. They better name that one Hephaestos.

And now they think Alpha Centauri could quite possibly have an earthsized world in the same general orbit as earth...

[280plus]

New Guinea and Australia are both supposed to have unexplored areas where uncontacted tribes may still exist. Strange to think that here in 2008,,,

First they'll need a big iron pot to cook missionaries and explorers in. I vote fistful brings it to them. Along with whiskey and glass beads of course. It's going to be his fault anyways...

[The Annoyed Man]

New Guinea and Australia are both supposed to have unexplored areas where uncontacted tribes may still exist. Strange to think that here in 2008,,,

First they'll need a big iron pot to cook missionaries and explorers in. I vote fistful brings it to them. Along with whiskey and glass beads of course. It's going to be his fault anyways...

Though I think his wife might be a tad bit upset if he brings them syphilis, atleast if he does it the old school-way .

[The Annoyed Man]

To be serious for a minute, how cool is it that these people having been living in this area for God knows how long, and despite all of our great technological advances, we just now discovered their very existence.  I find it simply amazing to be reminded just how little we do know in this day and age when people think that we know it all.  imagine what's left here to discover, much less out there beyond the Moon.  Too cool.

Bottom of the ocean, too. Lots of biologists were stunned when they discovered chemosynthesis around the deep ocean vents.

I'm also astonished at some of the possible planets they're finding around other stars. One they found appears to be of a composition where there's clouds of metal vapor, and it rains molten iron. That would be incredible to see. They better name that one Hephaestos.

And now they think Alpha Centauri could quite possibly have an earthsized world in the same general orbit as earth...

If it's habitable and not occupied by any higher forms of life, we (us on APS that is) should move in to colonize it ASAP. There we can set up a new place, and do it right this time .

[BridgeRunner]

If it's habitable and not occupied by any higher forms of life, we (us on APS that is) should move in to colonize it ASAP. There we can set up a new place, and do it right this time .

A world without pirates to hunt?  I dunno...

[The Annoyed Man]

If it's habitable and not occupied by any higher forms of life, we (us on APS that is) should move in to colonize it ASAP. There we can set up a new place, and do it right this time .

A world without pirates to hunt?  I dunno...

I'm sure we'll have unwelcome visitors fairly soon, which means we can shoot them out of the air. Think of it as skeet, only with AA-guns .

[French G.]

I vote an airdrop of RPGs and AKs to keep civilization at bay. Might be a steep and slippery learning curve though.

[RaspberrySurprise]

I did notice several faces looking up at the plane as it flew by. Wonder how that's going to affect them?

[Perd Hapley]

I'm guessing they've seen aircraft before.  And that they have contact with other, "contacted" tribes.  Or am I wrong?