VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WDHphDqrCU
Rare shot: In this frame grab taken from video
shot in 2011 by Brazil's National Indian Foundation (FUNAI), a Kawahiva
Indian carries arrows in the Amazon jungle in Brazil
Natural: The recording shows nine members of the
Kawahiva tribe walking through the woods in the nude, armed with bows
and arrows
Wanderers: The Kawahiva, first spotted by
loggers in 1999, are hunters-gatherers and lead a nomadic lifestyle,
which requires a large territory
Mother's instinct: A woman totes a child on her back, but runs away after noticing the camera
Loggers first reported the existence
of the Kawahiva in 1999. A reservation was created last year in the
western state of Mato Grosso, but members of the tribe still face grave
threats from loggers and farmers.
THE 'LOST' AND 'UNCONTACTED' TRIBES OF AMAZON REVEALED
The
Amazon region is the world's largest rainforests, which doubles as home
to one million Indians, who are divided into about 400 tribes - each
with its own language, customs and territory.
Many of the indigenous peoples have had contact with the outside world for almost 500 years, but others remain isolated, or ‘uncontacted.’
Most Indians live in settled villages by the rivers, and grow vegetables and fruits like manioc, corn, beans and bananas.
They also hunt and fish, using plant-based poisons to stun the fish. Some tribes use shotguns for hunting, others use bows and arrows, spears, or blowguns with darts tipped with curare.
Only a few Amazonian tribes, among them the Kawahiva, are nomadic; they tend to live deep in the forest away from the rivers and rely more on hunting and gathering.
In South and Central America, there are more than a dozen 'uncontacted' tribes, among them Akuntsu, Awa, Guarani and Yanomami in Brazil; Nukak in Columbia, and Matses in Peru.
In August 2011, the Brazilian government confirmed the existence of an ‘uncontacted’ population near the border with Peru in the massive Vale do Javari reservation after the tribe of 200 was spotted by satellite.
According to FUNAI, the government bureau of Indian affairs, the culture, and even the very survival of tribes living in Brazil, is threatened by illegal fishing, hunting, logging and mining in the area, along with deforestation by farmers, missionary activity and drug trafficking.
Over 500 years of exposure to disease and violence wiped out the majority of this indigenous population. Today, there are around 896,000 Indians in Brazil in over 238 tribes.
Brazil’s tribes range in size from the Guarani and Yanomami, who number tens of thousands, to tribes such as the Akuntsu and Kanoê, who number only a few dozen.
Many of the indigenous peoples have had contact with the outside world for almost 500 years, but others remain isolated, or ‘uncontacted.’
Most Indians live in settled villages by the rivers, and grow vegetables and fruits like manioc, corn, beans and bananas.
They also hunt and fish, using plant-based poisons to stun the fish. Some tribes use shotguns for hunting, others use bows and arrows, spears, or blowguns with darts tipped with curare.
Only a few Amazonian tribes, among them the Kawahiva, are nomadic; they tend to live deep in the forest away from the rivers and rely more on hunting and gathering.
In South and Central America, there are more than a dozen 'uncontacted' tribes, among them Akuntsu, Awa, Guarani and Yanomami in Brazil; Nukak in Columbia, and Matses in Peru.
In August 2011, the Brazilian government confirmed the existence of an ‘uncontacted’ population near the border with Peru in the massive Vale do Javari reservation after the tribe of 200 was spotted by satellite.
According to FUNAI, the government bureau of Indian affairs, the culture, and even the very survival of tribes living in Brazil, is threatened by illegal fishing, hunting, logging and mining in the area, along with deforestation by farmers, missionary activity and drug trafficking.
Over 500 years of exposure to disease and violence wiped out the majority of this indigenous population. Today, there are around 896,000 Indians in Brazil in over 238 tribes.
Brazil’s tribes range in size from the Guarani and Yanomami, who number tens of thousands, to tribes such as the Akuntsu and Kanoê, who number only a few dozen.
The video was shot in 2011 by a government agency overseeing indigenous affairs, but was only released Wednesday.
The
video clip, which clocks in at 1 minute, 26 seconds, was made by a team
of explorers from the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) - the
Brazilian government agency responsible for mapping out and protecting
lands traditionally inhabited by indigenous communities.
The
recording shows nine members of the rarely seen Kawahiva tribe walking
naked through the jungle, armed with bows and arrows.
They
were spotted while traveling from one village to another in the heart
of the forest bordering the states of Mato Grosso and Amazonas,
according to the Brazilian site Jornal Hoje.
At
one point, an indigenous woman appears in the frame carrying a child.
In the next moment, she becomes alarmed after noticing strangers filming
them.
After being
warned by his clansmen, a Kawahiva warrior retraces his steps and then
hides behind the foliage to observe the intruders.
Once they establish that the newcomers pose no danger to them, the entire group disappear into the dense woods.
The
original video recorded by the FUNAI employees contained audio, which
picked up on conversations between the Kawahiva tribesman spoken in the
Tupi-Kawahiva language, which is common to several tribes in the region.
According to Suely Cabral
Anna Arruda, a linguist from the University of Brasilia, the indigenous
peopleS in the video were discussing an upcoming hunting expedition when
one of the women noticed the camera crew, yelling to the others,
‘tapui,’ which can be roughly translated as ‘it’s the enemy.’
FUNAI employee Jair Candor, who
recorded the footage, has made many trips to the remote area of the
Amazon to monitor and protect the tribe without forcing contact with
them.
‘We were not there to meet them,’ he emphasized to Jornal Hoje.
Prior
to the 2011 expedition, which yielded the rare footage of the tribe,
scientists only had scant evidence to rely upon in their study of the
Kawahiva.
Over the course
of two decades, experts have come across several temporary camps in the
jungle and found many objects produced by the tribesmen, including a
primitive loom used in the making of arrows.
The Kawahiva are hunters-gatherers and lead a nomadic lifestyle, which requires a large territory.
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