It’s hard to imagine that in today’s day and age, with technology’s seemingly ever-growing hand clasping all aspects of daily life, there are still humans out there that have never seen an electronic device, don’t know what a car is, or have never gone to a restaurant.  There are people in existence who offer a literal window into the past, showing us perhaps how our society used to be thousands of years ago.  An eye-opening view into an entirely different way of life, where survival of the fittest still applies, and the purest connection with nature is still held fast.  In our world, where real estate in increasingly appreciated and sought after, it is most certainly difficult to think that these types of societies still exist…but they do indeed. 

As the population grows, it is inevitable that we will eventually make contact with these people, and as our two worlds collide it will have to be decided upon how to move forward.  Do we introduce them to technology?  Do we attempt to learn valuable medicinal or philosophical aspects from their way of life?  In an ethical and moral arena, is it our duty to assimilate them, or perhaps leave them alone?  The views are many, and the gaps in between modern and ancient societies are so large that any attempt to mesh them would be equivalent to throwing a human into the ocean and telling them to ‘breathe water.’  Maybe there is no other solution other than to do nothing.

In May 2008, photographs of what is believed to be one of the world’s last uncontacted tribes were released by the London-based Survival International.  Deep in the Amazon rain forest of Brazil, near the Peru border, the flyby pictures display the layouts and structures that make up the indigenous peoples’ villages.  You’ll notice that the men in the picture are painted in bright red, an obvious statement of “go away”.  According to reports, the first time the helicopter circled over the village, the tribespeople scattered, perhaps scared or confused…and who could blame them?  It wasn’t until the second go-around that the males displayed their red coloring and threatening pose.

When you’re not used something as common as a plastic bottle or even a pair of sneakers, how can you possibly fathom the thundering image of a helicopter flying overhead?  It would not surprise me in the least to discover that these villagers thought they were receiving the wrath of an angry god, being attacked by some ancient monstrosity, or witness to some mythical creature from the heavens.  That also begs the question: do these people have any sort of religious structure, and if so, how close is it to those of the Mayan or Incan pantheons?  Did the ancient beliefs replicate down through the years, or has a new set of legends, god(s), and codes been established? 

What it ultimately comes down to is that while they may hold volumes of anthropological evidence and clues, the right thing to do is let them live as they have for the past hundreds of years - in peace and alone.

“We did the overflight to show their houses, to show they are there, to show they exist,” said José Carlos dos Reis Meirelles Junior, an uncontacted tribes expert from FUNAI, the Brazilian government’s Indian affairs department. “This is very important because there are some who doubt their existence.”  Illegal logging from Peru is threatening to encroach on the lands of these tribes, making the issue a hot one for the Brazilian government.  Apparently, the existence of this particular tribe has been known for the past 20 years, and as many as 68 other uncontacted tribes may live a similar life.  Attempts at contact have led to some tribal plagues of sorts, pitting their primitive immune systems against highly advanced strains of bacteria that don’t affect us in the least.  We are, literally, more evolved to our common surroundings than these tribe members.  It would seem that the pictures were taken as less of an intrusive measure, and more of a protective one, creating awareness and action with the populous. 

There are so many questions that this begs, not the least of which is the frightening role reversal that could occur (or may be occurring) with ourselves.  Despite all of our advancements, nothing exempts us from being under similar scrutiny of other life forms.  In our arrogance, we may be blind to the fact that certain phenomena and means of communication can be as paralyzing and confusing as a helicopter is to this tribe.  How do we view supernatural and ethereal contact?  What things that we can’t explain do we simply chalk up to ”being tired” or some other rationale?  What beliefs do we create to fill in the answers that we are not privileged to obtain yet?  I have a hard time believing we are not only alone in the universe, but even more so, that we are the most intelligent. 

Perhaps one day, and it maybe hundreds or thousands of years from now, we’ll see THEIR helicopter in the sky.     

For an interesting (and uncomfortable) look at how the modern world is arriving at these tribes’ doorsteps, take a look at “Uncontacted Tribes” narrated by Julie Christie.

You can also write a letter to Peru’s president asking him to recognise his country’s isolated Indians’ land rights – and by doing so protect uncontacted peoples on both sides of the Peru-Brazil border.

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