Barnorama All Fun In The Barn
On the border of Peru and Brazil, an uncontacted group of people wearing loincloths and carrying weapons was recently filmed meeting outsiders.
New video shows an isolated tribe from the Amazon rainforest in Brazil making contact for the first time with villagers who live along a river at the Peruvian border.
The native group identified as the Rio Xinane, who are part of the Panoan linguistic group, visited the Ashaninka, a settled indigenous group, who live along the Envira River near the border of Peru, on June 26.
The Rio Xinane, who wear only loincloths, returned again to the village on June 30, and stayed for three days with the help of an interpreter who was brought to the scene. The second encounter was recorded by Brazil’s Indigenous Affairs Department, according to AFP.
In the video, an Ashaninka man in shorts gives banana bunches to two indigenous men. The men then quickly retreat, peel the bananas and begin to eat the fruit.
The indigenous group has probably had sporadic contact with outsiders — evident by the gun one man is carrying. It’s possible the tribe met drug traffickers or loggers, who they may have stolen guns and other tools from.
The men are also seen carrying bows and arrows and spears.
The term uncontacted tribe is used to describe groups who do not have regular contact with the mainstream world. There are believed to be about 100 uncontacted tribes that exist, with 77 of them living in Brazil, according to Survival International.
The group told an interpreter that they had been attacked and their homes had been burned in the past. Many of them had also died after coming down with the flu and other diseases.
They said they had emerged again from the woods to contact the village for medical treatment. Seven people from the group were treated for the flu by a team sent by the government.
Survival International said that the tribe was vulnerable “as they lack immunity to common diseases spread by outsiders” and that contact with outsiders could be “disastrous.” They added the group “depend entirely on their land for their survival,” which they are being forced out of by illegal loggers.
Watch the full video here: