uncontacted peoples

Uncontacted peoples are peoples who, either by choice or chance, live without significant contact with the larger civilizations of the world.

Recent usage favours the term "isolated" rather than "uncontacted" as few peoples have remained totally uncontacted by modern civilisation, but a number have chosen to make contact either exceedingly difficult or dangerous. Many indigenous rights activists call for such groups to be left alone in respect of their right to self-determination.

A problem with making contact with isolated peoples is that they do not generally have any immunity to common diseases which explorers trying to make contact will inevitably carry. This can have severe consequences as normally harmless diseases, such as the common cold, can be deadly when no natural immunity exists.

There are several uncontacted tribes in New Guinea and Amazonia (including the Tagaeri band of Huaorani (Ecuador) and Kirineri, Nahua and Nanti peoples in the Nahua-Kugapakori Reserve (Peru).

Asia

Large swathes of New Guinea are yet to be explored by scientists and anthropologists and most of the occurrences there are not confirmed, due to a lack of safety. The province of Irian Jaya or West Papua in the island of New Guinea is home to an estimated 44 uncontacted tribal groups.^[1]

In India, tribes of the Andaman Islands, most notably the Sentinelese, continue to refuse contact with the outside world but are believed to have survived the 2004 Tsunami [1].

In the 1970s, one of the biggest hoaxes of the last century occurred when the Philippine government announced the discovery of the Tasaday, a supposedly uncontacted stone-age tribe living in Mindanao.

Australia

In 1984, a group of the Pintupi people who were living a traditional semi-nomadic desert-dwelling life walked out of the remote wilderness of the Gibson Desert in Western Australia and made contact for the first time with European-Australian society. They are believed to be the last uncontacted tribe in Australia.

South America

On 18 January 2007, FUNAI reported that it had confirmed the presence of 67 different uncontacted tribes in Brazil, up from 40 in 2005.^[2] With this addition Brazil has now overtaken the island of New Guinea as the country having the largest number of uncontacted tribes.

Bolivia

As of 2006, the presence of 5 uncontacted groups were confirmed in Bolivia. A further 3 are to be confirmed. Those uncontacted groups whose presence has been confirmed are: Ayoreo in Parque Nacional Kaa Iya (Fled to Bolivia in 1980s to escape from violence orchestrated by the New Tribes Mission^[3]), Mbya-Yuqui in Yuqui Reservation and Rio Usurinta (Most of the Yuqui are now contacted, only a few families remain uncontacted), Yurakare in Santa Cruz and Beni, Pacahuara in the Chacobo reservation and Araona in the Araona Reservation. The presence of other groups such as Toromona in the Parque Nacional Madidi, Nahua in the PN Madidi and Esse Ejja in the Peruvian border are yet to be confirmed.

Name	Pop (Est)	Location	Commentary
Sinabo/Kapuibo (Nahua)	<200	Between Lower Beni and Lower Yata	Pano. Related to the Chakobo. Some sources question their existence.
Yanaigua	100 - 200	Between the Rio Grande and Upper San Miguel	Pano according to some, more likely Tupi-Guarani related to the Yuqui. Mainly hunter-gatherers. They live on the Guarayos forest reserve.
Yuqui	~100	Between Upper Ichilo and Upper Yapacani	Tupi-Guarani. Small uncontacted group of Yuqui. Mainly hunter-gatherers. They live in the Amboro national park.

Brazil

Brazil is the country with the largest number of uncontacted groups in the world. The seven Terra Indigenas (Reservations) exclusively reserved for isolated people are:

TI Alto Tarauacá in Acre - Various tribes. (Isolados do Alto Tarauacá)
TI Hi-Merimã in Amazonas - Himerimã. (Isolados do médio Purus)
TI Massaco in Rondonia - Sirionó (Isolados do rio São Simão)
TI Igarapé Omerê in Rondonia - Kanoe do Omerê & Akuntsu
TI Rio Muqui in Rondonia - Isolados das cabeceiras do rio Muqui (Given as Miqueleno-Kujubim in the table).
TI Rio Pardo in MG and Amazonas - Isolados do rio Pardo (Tupi-Guarani-Kawahibi).
TI Xinane isolados in Acre - Unidentified.

Uncontacted groups living in other people's TIs are:

TI Awá in Maranhão - Awá.
TI Avá Canoeiro in Goiás - Avá Canoeiro.
TI Arara do Rio Branco in Mato Grosso - Isolados da margem esquerda do médio Rio Roosevelt/Rio Branco.
PI Aripuanã in Rondonia - Isolados da margem esquerda do médio Rio Aripuanã, Isolados do Río Pacutinga/Aripuanã, Isolados do Médio Rio Branco do Aripuanã.
TI Caru in Maranhão- Awá (Isolados do igarapé Água Branca).
TI Kampa e Isolados do Rio Envira in Acre - Isolados do rio Envira.
TI Kaxinawa do Rio Humaitá in Acre - Unidentified.
TI Koatinemo in Pará - Unidentified.
TI Menkragnoti in Pará - Mengra Mrari.
TI Raposa/Serra do Sol in Roraima - Unidentified, Discovered in 2006. Near Monte Roraima and Monte Caburaí (2 to 4 km from Roraima-Venezuela-Guyana tri-junction).
TI Mamoadate in Acre - Mashko (Isolados do Alto Iaco).
TI Jaminahua-Envira - Isolados das cabeceiras do rio Jaminaua. (Part of Papavo)
TI Riozinho do Alto Envira in Acre - Isolados do Riozinho/Envira. (Part of Papavo)
TI Rio Tea in Amazonas - Four bands of Nadeb(???): Cabeceira dos rios Waranaçu e Gururu, Médio rio Tiquié, Cabeceiras dos rios Curicuriari e Dji and Cabeceiras do rio Tea. Two more bands nearby in Eneiuxi (Médio rio Eneiuxi) and Urubaxi (Cabeceira do rio Urubaxi e Bafuanã) are possibly Nedeb (Given as Nadeb in the table).
PI Tumucumaque in Para - Akurio.
TI Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau in Rondonia - 4 to 6 groups of isolated people, Including Isolados das cabeceiras do rio Muqui, Isolados do rio Cautário, Cabeceiras do rio Água Branca and Jururei.
TI Vale do Javari in Amazonas - 7 groups of isolated people: Cabeceiras de Santana e igarapé Flexeira, Korubo, Isolados do Coari-Río Branco, Isolados do rio Quixito, Isolados do Rio Jandiatuba, Isolados do Rio Jutaí e Isolados dos rios Jaquirana/Amburus.
TI Waimiri Atroari in Amazonas - Formadores do rio Alalaú (Piriutiti) & Formadores do rio Jatapu (Karafawyana or Chamakoto).
TI Xikrin do Cateté in Pará -
TI Araribóia in MG - Isolados dos rios Buriticupu e Taruparu.
TI Cuminapanema - Zo’é.
TI Tanaru - Only one individual, the "Tanaru Isolated Indian." Remaining members of the tribe massacred.

Name	Pop (Est)	Location	Commentary
Apiaka	>100	Mato Grosso Norte - Between Lower Juruena and Lower Teles Pires	Tupi-Guarani. Isolated Apiaka group. Were massacred some time ago.
Apurinã	>50	Amazonas - Upper rio Sepatini	Arawak.
Aruá	75 at most	Rondonia	Tupi-Mondé Between the rios Mequens and Colorado Living over both the Rio Branco I.T. and the Guaporé B.R. Rio São Miguel Outside reserves. Area invaded by loggers. Frequent fighting.
Ava-Canoeiros	30	Goias - Sources of the Tocantins, Border between Goias and Minais Gerais	Tupi-Guarani. Small groups of highly mobile hunter-gatherers.
Guaja	120 [already counted among the known group]	Maranhão - Scattered throughout the western part of the state	Tupi-Guarani. Small groups of highly mobile hunter-gatherers (even after contact). They have their own I.T. but also move in and out of several other reserves.
Ingarune	~100	North Pará - Rio Cuminapanema and Paru de Oeste	Karib. Related to the Kachuyana. Existence confirmed by the Poturuyar (recently contacted Tupi-Guarani). They live within the latter's I.T.
Kanibo(Mayo)	120 to 150	Rio Quixito, Javari Basin, Amazonas	Probably Pano. Several unsuccessful official contacts. Occasional contacts with loggers.
Kaniwa(Korubo)	300	9 malocas in Between Lower Itui and Lower Itacoai, Amazonas	Pano. Occasional contacts. Hostile.
Karafawyana and other isolated Carib tribes.	400 to 500	Four locations in Roraima and north Para. (1)Source of the Jatapu. (2)Rio Urucurina, tributary of the Mapuera. (3)Rio Kafuini, tributary of the Trombetas. (4)Upper Turuna, tributary of the Trombetas.	Mostly Cariban. (1)Karib, Parukoto-Charuma sub-group. (2)Related to the Waiwai. (3)Some individuals visit Waiwai communities without warning the authorities. This is how they obtain their metal tools. (4)Partly in the Trombetas-Mapuera I.T.
Karitiana	50 - 100	Upper Rio Candeias, Rondonia.	Tupi-Arikem. Identified by the small group that has been contacted.
Katawixi	50	Upper Rio Muquim, tributary of the Purus, Amazonas.	Isolated language. One community only has been located.
Kayapo do Rio Liberdade	>100	Lower Rio Liberdade, Mato Grosso Norte.	Gé. Identified by other Kayapo towards whom they are hostile.
Kayapo-Pu'ro	100	Lower Rio Curuá,South Para.	Kayapo. Group which has broken away from the Mekragnoti since 1940. Outside Kayapo I.T.
Kayapo-Pituiaro	200	Rio Murure, South Para.	Kayapo. Group which has broken away from the Kuben-kranken since 1950. Partly outside Kayapo I.T.
Kayapo-Kararao	~50	Lower Rio Guajara, South Para.	Kayapo. Group which has broken away from the Kararao. Struggles are part of their traditions.
Kulina	?	Rio Curuça, tributary of the Javari, Amazonas.	Arawak. Small isolate communities belonging to the big Kulina group.
Maku(Nadeb)	~100	Uneiuxi and Urubaxi Basins, Amazonas.	Isolated language. Isolated elements of Maku groups that have already been contacted. Hunter-gatherers.
Mamaindé	50 - 100	Upper Rio Corumbiara, Rondonia.	Isolated language. Isolated group of Nambikwara. A no-entry zone was allocated and then cancelled under local pressure. Recently massacred.
Hi-Marimã	30 - 40	Riozinho, tributary of the Cuniuã, Purus Basin, Amazonas.	Arawak(?). Were massacred in 1986. Their area has recently been declared protected.
Mayoruna	200 to 300	3 locations in Amazonas: Rio Batã, source of the Javari. Rio Pardo. Between the Pardo and middle Javari.	Pano. Small isolated communities of the large Mayoruna group.
Miqueleno(Cujubi)	?	Upper Rio São Miguel , Rondonia	Isolated Chapakura language. Area invaded by loggers. Recently massacred.
Nereyana	~100	Rio Panama, headwaters of Paru de Oeste , North Para.	Karib. Perhaps more closely related to the Kachuyana than to the Tiriyo.
Pakaa-Nova (2)Oromawin sugroup	~150	Serra dos Pakaas-Novas, Rondonia. (2)Source of the Rio Formoso, Rondonia.	Isolated Chapakura language. Isolated groups belonging to the major Pakaa-Nova group. Included in the Uru-eu-wau-wau I.T. (2)Neighbouring one of the Pakaa-nova I.T.
Papavo Supergroup, which includes: Mashco/Harakmbet Culina Amahuaca Yawanahua	>400	Acre (Scattered over a single large territory) (1)Rio Breu, headwaters of the Upper Jurua. (2,3,4)Between the sources of the Envira and the Muru, and Igarapé Xinané, tributary of the Purus, overflowing into Peru.	Many isolated communities belonging to 4 distinct groups. Struggling is part of their traditions: reciprocal hostile contacts with the Kampa (whom they plunder), and peaceful ones with the Kulina; they plunder the loggers' encampments. (1) Isolated language - On the extractivist reserve of Alto Jurua. (2,3,4)-(2)Arawakan, (3,4)Panoan - Two I.T. have been set up for them.
Pariuaia	>100	Rio Bararati, tributary of the Lower Juruena, Amazonas.	Probably Tupi-Kawahib, Tupi-Guarani. Have refused all contact since 1930.
Piriutiti	100 to 200	Rio Curiau, Amazonas.	Related to the Waimiri-Atroari, (Karib). Some live in, others outside, the latter's I.T.
Sateré	?	Rio Parauari, tributary of the Maués-açu, Amazonas.	Tupi. Communities that split away from the Sateré-Maué a long time ago.
Tupi-Kawahib(Piripicura)	200 to 300	Between the Madeirinha and the Roosevelt, Mato Grosso Norte.	Tupi-Guarani. A no-entry zone has just been allocated for them.
Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau	300	Serra dos Pakaas-Novas, Rondonia.	Tupi-Guarani. There remain over 3 uncontacted groups. Several hostile encounter with gold-seekers and loggers. All are included in the vast Uru-eu-wau-wau I.T.
Wayãpi(Yawãpi)	100 to 150	Upper Ipitinga, between the Jari and the Paru de Este, North Para.	Tupi-Guarani. Group which formerly broke away from the Southern Wayãpi.
Yakarawakta	20 - 30	Between the Rios Aripuanã and Juruena, Mato Grosso Norte.	Tupi-Guarani. Probably an Apiaka sub-group.
Yanomami	300	Amazonas (1) Upper Marauia (2) Between the Demini and the Catrimani	Yanomami. (1) Within the I.T. (2) Isolated communities ; probably outside the I.T., but within the Rio Branco National Park.
name unknown	~100	Between the Upper Amapari and Upper Oyapock, Amapa.	Unspecified linguistic family. According to the Southern Wayãpi, a group that formerly broke away from them. According to the Northern Wayãpi, one of their former enemy groups, the Tapüiy.
name unknown (Isolados do Jandiatuba)	300	Between the Upper Jandiatuba and the Itacoai, Amazonas.	Maybe a Katukina group.
name unknown (Isolados do São José)	300	Igarapé São José, tributary of the Itacoai, Amazonas.	Seems to be a group distinct from Isolados do Jandiatuba.
name unknown	?	Igarapé Recreio, município Cruzeiro do Sul, Upper Jurua, Acre.	Panoan(?)
name unknown (Isolados do Igarapé Tueré)	?	Igarapé Tueré, tributary of the Itacaiunas, Para.	Tupi(?)
name unknown (Isolados do Arama e Inaui)	~100	South of Rio Inauini, Purus Basin, Amazonas.	?
name unknown (Isolados do Igarapé Umari)	?	Igarapé Umari, tributary of the Ituxi, Amazonas.	?
name unknown (Isolados do Serra do Taquaral)	?	Serra do Taquaral, source of the Rio Branco, Rondonia.	?

Colombia

Despite the unfavourable conditions present in Colombia (civil war), it is the country which offers the maximum protection for isolated groups. Carabayo-Aroje is the most important group, living in the Parque Nacional del Rio Pure. It is not known whether any Yari survives now. Nukaak Maku were contacted in 2003 and 65% of the tribal members died of disease. Around 2-3 dozen Nukaak still remains isolated.

Name	Pop (Est)	Location	Commentary
Karabayo	150	Amazonas - Source of the Purué River, north of the Putumayo River	Isolated language. Thought to be Maku, but more likely Yuri. Overstepping the Brazilian border. Hostile.
Guaviare Macusa (Now Nukaak Maku)	300	Guainia - Between the Guaviare River and the Inírida River	Isolated language. Isolated Maku. Small mobile groups of hunter-gatherers. Recently contacted. Now about 50 remain uncontacted. Population fell from 800 to 300 in just one year. Contacted group under siege from FARC and New Tribes Mission and living in refugee camps.
name unknown (Isolados dos Rio Yari)	?	Caqueta - Upper Rio Yari	Karib or isolated language? Karijona or Witoto sub-group. Live in the Chiribiquete national park.

Ecuador

It is not known whether any Tagaeri survives now in Yasuni National Park. In 1990s when a member of Tagaeri was contacted by a lone Huaorani hunter, he told him that Tagaeri numbers only a handful of members and are in danger of being wiped out by their hostile neighbours - the Taromenane. Since then there have been no more peaceful contacts. The Tagaeri hunter also mentioned about another group, the Oñamenane who numbered 5-6 individuals and there was one more tribe - the Huiñatare. In 2003 about 30 Taromenane were massacred by the Huaorani in retaliation for the killing of a Huaorani hunter. In the same year 14 Tagaeri were killed by loggers. In April 2006 a logger was speared to death by the Taromenane (in 2005 another one was also killed by the same tribe, whose body was later found embedded with 30 spears and his face unrecognizable). In the same month a further 30 Taromenane and 10 loggers were killed in conflicts according to leader Iki Ima Omene (of Huaorani) and www.saveamericasforests.org. In Jan 2007 the president of Ecuador declared the Southern part of Yasuni a forbidden zone (7,580 square kilometers) in order to protect the uncontacted people. At the same time CONAIE reported that there are a total of 150-300 Taromenane (divided into 2 sub-tribes) and 20-30 Tagaeri surviving uncontacted there. Unfortunately the Oñamenane and Huiñatare are extinct. There are unconfirmed reports of uncontacted tribespeople in the border with Peru. Despite the good news, Ecuador continues to be the country where the maximum number of uncontacted people massacred since 2000.

Name	Pop (Est)	Location	Commentary
Huaorani	100 - 200	Oriente - Between the Upper Napo and Upper Curaray	Isolated language. Segment hostile to the Waorani. Threatened by the advancing front of oil prospection.

Guyana

Name	Pop (Est)	Location	Commentary
Wapishana	100	Between the sources of the Essequibo River and the Tacutu River; Serra Acarai	Arawak. Isolated segment of the Wapishana group. They refuse all contact.
name unknown	~100	Between the Upper Courantyne and the New River	Karib. Maybe related to the Tiriyo.

French Guiana

Name	Pop (Est)	Location	Commentary
Wayãpi	100	Between the Eureupoucine and the Upper Camopi	Tupi-Guarani. Group that broke away from the Wayãpi of Upper Oyapock around 1900. They refuse all contact.

Peru

There are now five reserves in the Peruvian Amazon meant to protect the lands and rights of isolated peoples. Most of the reserves are currently entered by illegal loggers and petroleum companies with legal concessions to work in those lands, although their activities jeopardize the lives of the isolated populations.

After Brazil (43 uncontacted groups confirmed) and New Guinea (Papua New Guinea and Iriyan Jaya), Peru has the largest number of uncontacted tribes in the world. Unfortunately some of the groups in Peru are in danger of extermination by loggers. As of 2006, the locations where uncontacted groups are confirmed to be living are as follows:

(a) Reserva Comunal Amarakaeri: Groups are Yine, Yora and other unidentified Panoan tribes.
(b) Zona Reservada Biabo Cordillera Azul: Cacatibo.
(c) Parque Nacional del Manu: Mashco-Piro, uncontacted bands of Matsiguenga, tribes belonging to Yura family and unidentified tribes.
(d) Reserva Comunal Asháninka+Reserva Comunal Matsiguenga+Parque Nacional Otishi: uncontacted bands of Ashaninka.
(e) Parque Nacional Alto Purús + Reserva Comunal Purús: Sharanahua, Yaminahua, Chitonahua, Curajeño & Mashco-Piro-Iñapari.
(f) Reserva Territorial del Estado: Kungapakori, Nahua, Matsiguenga, Nanti, Krineri and other unidentified tribes.
(g) Reserva Territorial del Murunahua y Chitonahua: Murunahua, Chitonahua.
(h) Reserva Territorial del Isconahua: Isconahua.
(i) Reserva Territorial del Mashco-Piro: Various tribes belonging to Mashco-Piro.
(j) Reserva Territorial del Mashco-Piro o Iñapari: Mashco-Piro-Iñapari.
(k)Reservas territoriales del Cacataibo: Cacataibo.

Name	Pop (Est)	Commentary
Morunahua	150	This group is probably to be related to the group that used to be called Papavo in Brazil.
Parquenahua	200	Pano. They live in the Manu national park.
Pisabo	200	Pano.

Suriname

Name	Pop (Est)	Location	Commentary
Akulio	50	Watershed between Suriname and Brazil. Between the sources of the Itani and the Jari	Karib. Last uncontacted segment of Akulio. They refuse all contact.

Venezuela

Name	Pop (Est)	Location	Commentary
Yanomami	300 - 400 (already included in the total for Yanomami populations)	Amazonas - Upper Siapa	Communities in contact with other known segments of the ethnic group, but they refuse all contact with the outside.^{[citation needed]} They live in the Parimá-Tapirapeco national park.

Paraguay

There remain 1-2 dozen Ayoreo who still have not been contacted. Most of them belong to the Totobiegosode clan. In the 1990s the main threat was New Tribes Mission. In 1979 and 1986, the New Tribes Mission was accused of assisting in the forcible contact of nomadic Ayoreo Indians, whose unsuccessful attempts to remain in the forest led to several deaths. Others died soon after being brought out of the forest. The genocide forced some Ayoreo to flee to Bolivia. The main threat currently are the ranchers. The Paraguaian government is not taking any steps to protect them. In 2004 a group of 17 Ayoreo-Totobiegosode previously uncontacted made contact with the outside world and decided to settle down (5 men, 7 women and 5 children, according to Survival). It was not known whether there were any more isolated Ayoreo left in the jungle. But On the first week of September 2007, another uncontacted band of Ayoreo-Totobiegosode were spotted by loggers in the Western Chaco. Ayoreo are believed to be the last uncontacted Indians south of the Amazon basin. [2]

Popular Culture

Uncontacted tribes remain a fascination in Western culture. Recently, the idea of tour operators offering extreme adventure tours to specifically search out uncontacted peoples has become a controversial subject [3]. A BBC4 documentary in 2006 documented a controversial American tour operator who specializes in escorted tours to "discover" uncontacted peoples in West Papua [4].

Uncontacted tribes have also emerged in works of literature and film. The 1995 film Last of the Dogmen explores the idea of a group of uncontacted Cheyenne discovered living in a remote part of Montana. In the 1991 film At Play in the Fields of the Lord, an American pilot crash lands in the Amazon where he encounters and lives with a previously uncontacted tribe, while the 1985 film The Emerald Forest features a Western boy kidnapped by a previously uncontacted Amazonian tribe called the "Invisible People".

References

^ BBC: First contact with isolated tribes?
^ Brazil sees traces of more isolated Amazon tribes
^ "During the 1970s and 1980s... NTM pursued a policy of aggressive attempts to convert them. They would encourage groups of missionised Ayoreo to go into the forest to capture the uncontacted, nomadic Ayoreo, their traditional enemies, and bring them back to the NTM base. This resulted in violent clashes and several deaths as the Indians were exposed to diseases to which they had no immunity at the mission camp." Survival International, Ayoreo.

External links

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