Insightful footage has been released which gives a glimpse into the daily life of a tribe in the Amazon that has never been contacted.
The incredible video was captured by FUNAI – Brazil’s agency for indigenous affairs. The agency explained the images of the 16 members of the tribe were captured in 2017, but have only just been released.
FUNAI had flown a drone over the community in an indigenous territory named Vale do Javari as part of an expedition to assist isolated communities.
Watch the interesting scene here:
FUNAI reportedly started their research into the tribes after hearing that they were being threatened by illegal hunters.
The video showed one member of the tribe making their way through a crop and into the dense forest surrounding the cleared area. The man was thought to be holding a bow and arrow.
Other members of the community moved around towards the other end of the clearing.
Images of the surrounding area showed a handmade axe tied with vegetable fibre, canoes made out of hollowed palm trees, and a ‘maloca’ – a long house.
FUNAI has not yet identified the name of the tribe in the video, but they have made guesses about its ethnicity and the language spoken by those in the community.
The researchers have been monitoring the group for years, but have never been able to capture them on camera until last year.
Wallace Bastos, FUNAI’s president, spoke about the importance of the video.
He said:
These images have the power to make society and the government reflect on the importance of protecting these groups.
Bruno Pereira, who coordinates FUNAI’s study of isolated groups in the region, added that the images allowed researchers to study the culture of the tribe.
He explained:
The more we know about isolated communities’ way of living, the more equipped we are to protect them.
Pereira also explained why the agency used drones in their research.
He said:
The use of drones provided safety both for the indigenous people and for the FUNAI team.
The idea is to share these scenes in order to confirm the existence of these Indians and the importance of protecting them.
We need to strengthen our work in the region.
There are known to be 11 groups in the Vale do Javari area, and FUNAI have registered 107 tribes in Brazil, but those registered remain isolated from one another and the rest of the world.
Speaking to Associated Press, Pereira explained that the communities know of the existence of the cities and farms that surround their home, but they choose to remain isolated as a result of traumatic experiences with the outside world.
He said:
If they wanted contact with the outside world, they would seek out ways to communicate with us.
Pereira has also stated that the tribes will remain uncontacted by FUNAI until they decide otherwise:
We respect their isolation. Their isolation will remain until the day they decide against it, or until an extreme situation requires the State to make contact.
The tribes are probably best not getting in touch with us. Chances are they’d just get dragged into assimilating with our meme culture and attempts at doing Dele Alli’s hand tricks.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.