Rare uncontacted tribe photographed in Amazon

[G-Manicus]

I wonder what kind of internet connection they get out there.

[M. Porcius Cato]

When I've seen pictures of S.A. tribal people they appeared to be very healthy bordering on robust in their natural state.

 

Medical diagnosis via aerial photography is probably not very accurate. Based on the statistics I've seen Hobbes was closer to the truth than Rousseau. Far from living in an idyllic Eden, hunter-gatherers suffer from high rates of infant mortality, adult mortality, homicide, sepsis, and the like. Yes, they needn't work as hard as on a farm or in a factory, but it's a "nasty, brutish, and short" life.

[Kosmo]

I don't idealize the quality of life in paleolithic, but a government, be it a national one or a supra-national entity can have only 2 stark choices: leave them be or assimilate them in modern society. The first can lead to physical extinction while the second to massive cultural change and loss of identity.

A book written by a french Indiana Jones the went native in French Guyana presented in an attractive way the dilemmas facing this communities. He tried to give basic medical care and to help natives access the medical facilities but this brought opposition from shamans because illness it's always connected with religious beliefs. The natives and the authorities wanted greater contact but he was trying to preserve the local way of life and to reduce exposure to diseases.

See the problems in Canada where the government had to apologize for forcing native children in schools: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/12/america/canada.php and similar titles like "Canada's PM makes official apology to aboriginal people forced into assimilation schools" "Canada's leader to apologize to aboriginals for schools meant to strip them of culture"

[Nephele]

It was a hoax.

 

"They are the amazing pictures that were beamed around the globe: a handful of warriors from an 'undiscovered tribe' in the rainforest on the Brazilian-Peruvian border brandishing bows and arrows at the aircraft that photographed them.

 

"Or so the story was told and sold. But it has now emerged that, far from being unknown, the tribe's existence has been noted since 1910 and the mission to photograph them was undertaken in order to prove that 'uncontacted' tribes still existed in an area endangered by the menace of the logging industry."

 

Secret of the 'lost' tribe that wasn't

 

-- Nephele

[G-Manicus]

In retrospect, I guess there were some red flags ....

 

[ASCLEPIADES]

In retrospect, I guess there were some red flags ....

 

Excellent pic, GM; specially because its basically true. For today, McDonalds reports its presence in "119 countries and territories", all South America included. In fact, where it's absent is not so much for accessibility problems, but for political (ie, Iran) or fundamentally economic factors: poor populations can't afford Big Macs (it's absent from over 90% of Africa). Then, if the people of that pic have no McDonald, is not because they are "uncontacted", but because they are impoverished.

[Faustus]

It was a hoax.

 

"Or so the story was told and sold. But it has now emerged that, far from being unknown, the tribe's existence has been noted since 1910 and the mission to photograph them was undertaken in order to prove that 'uncontacted' tribes still existed in an area endangered by the menace of the logging industry...

 

I wonder how this changes things for these people. This new information doesn't seem to change their situation very much, but it does tend to confirm that they've made a choice to remain isolated as indicated by their threat display. It also provides information about how static their territory seems to remain over time.

 

We seem to think everything is about us.

 

Kudos to you Nephele, for finding it and the headline sized text.

Edited June 25, 2008 by Faustus

[ASCLEPIADES]

I wonder how this changes things for these people. This new information doesn't seem to change their situation very much,

Salve, F

I agree. Things remain the same for them, for me, and probably also for you. These Brazilians still require to be cared, and still require to be heard, to express their opinions on their own future. The mere fact that the hoax could go on for some days is a good indicator of their isolation.

 

For the journalists it's another story, as they can't claim a real discovery.

And for the anthropologists too, as it's becoming progressively more difficult to find authentically untouched "primitive" cultures to be studied.

For example, the classical landmark clinical study INTERSALT (1988), which demonstrated that naturally low-sodium diet Amerindians (like one tenth or less of an average first world

Edited June 25, 2008 by ASCLEPIADES

[Kosmo]

An old French joke tells that the average familiar structure of some aboriginal groups in Chad would be like two parents, five children and two anthropologists.

 

Nice.

This reminds me of an old peasant telling to a TV crew about local traditions and stories. When asked from where did he knows that he indicated an anthropological study.

[Viggen]

Too bad they had to be disturbed by a helicopter. (At least I suppose that is what the aircraft was)

 

...actually that was from a plane and about a kilometer away, i know this is a two year old thread, but i just stumbled about this high resolution video and i had to share...

 

http://www.uncontact...g/brazilfootage

 

p.s. is that Gillian Anderson (Scully from Xfiles) speaking?