Guilherme Gnipper Trevisan/HutukaraIncredible photos of an untouched Amazonian tribe, looking at a plane for the first time have emerged.
The circular structure in the Amazon Rainforest is home to 100 Yanomami tribe members who reside on the Brazilian side of the Venezualan border
There are 22,000 indigenous Yanomami people inhabiting an area of land the size of Scotland, many of whom have never had contact with the outside world, the Daily Mail reports.
Guilherme Gnipper Trevisan/HutukaraThe people, wearing little clothing, stare up at the plane in wonder.
The photos were taken by the Brazilian government in an attempt to assess how large the tribe is in order to protect them.
Indigenous rights campaigners are raising awareness of the danger that the three Yanomami groups in the area are in from illegal miners.
The miners enter the Yanomami territory and contaminate their water sources with mercury, as well as bringing diseases like malaria to the tribe’s vulnerable immune systems.
Guilherme Gnipper Trevisan/HutukaraThe army and police operation is aiming to remove around 5,000 illegal miners from the Yanomami land in order to allow them to thrive.
The photos hold a very positive message because there were an increase in thatched panels, alluding to the fact that the group has increased in size.
The bad news for the community is that budget cuts in causing authorities to pull back from protecting them
Guilherme Gnipper Trevisan/HutukaraDavi Kopenawa Yanomami, president of the Yanomami association Hutukara, said:
I don’t think the president realises the dangers we face.
The Moxihatetema are at great risk. But it is not just them. It is all the Yanomami people in the region. There are more garimpeiros (miners) every year.
They do not respect our territory. The government must do more to prevent them from invading our land.
Guilherme Gnipper Trevisan/HutukaraWithout external support, the Yanomami village may have to close down completely because it can not protect itself from invaders.
Davi declared that ‘The whole world must know that they are there in their forest and that the authorities must respect their right to live there.’
