Lost tribe, not so lost
Remember the amazing lost tribe that was being hawked all over the news a few weeks ago? Ahh, not so lost after all. The real story is actually a whole lot more interesting:
…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….
According to his account, the Brazilian state of Acre offered him the use of an aircraft for three days. ‘I had years of GPS co-ordinates,’ he said. Meirelles had another clue to the tribe’s precise location. ‘A friend of mine sent me some Google Earth co-ordinates and maps that showed a strange clearing in the middle of the forest and asked me what that was,’ he said. ‘I saw the co-ordinates and realised that it was close to the area I had been exploring with my son – so I needed to fly over it.’…
…’When I saw them painted red, I was satisfied, I was happy,’ he said. ‘Because painted red means they are ready for war, which to me says they are happy and healthy defending their territory.‘
Posted on 
June 23rd, 2008 by 
Simon Greenhill
3 Responses to “Lost tribe, not so lost”
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Email Henry Updates to Me
June 24th, 2008 at 2:59 am
It was never said that the tribe was ‘lost’, especially as they live within a reserve dedicated to the protection of vulnerable, isolated tribes.
The tribe was and remains ‘uncontacted’: no outsider has been known to have any peaceful contact with its members. This is true of about 100 tribes worldwide.
Since the photographs were released, Peru has acknowledged the lands of uncontacted tribes on its side of the border, and sent a team to investigate the illegal logging that threatens their survival.
Find out more about the world’s uncontacted tribes at http://www.survival-international.org/uncontactedtribes and read Survival’s original article at http://www.survival-international.org/news/3340
June 24th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Hi Matt, and thanks for the comment and clarifications. I disagree - when that story came out, all the news reports were hyping the “lost” aspect of it, regardless of how “lost” they actually were.
I am glad that this correction has come out - the new details are actually far more interesting.
Thanks,
Simon
July 8th, 2008 at 10:33 am
[...] the ‘uncontacted’ people from the Brazilian-Peruvian Border? Well a couple weeks ago, Simon from HENRY, shared link that I think some of you maybe interested in. The link I speak of is this news piece, [...]