Relatives throughout the Woodland: The Battle to Protect an Isolated Rainforest Tribe

The resident Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a modest open space within in the Peruvian jungle when he noticed footsteps drawing near through the thick jungle.

He realized he was hemmed in, and stood still.

“One stood, pointing using an bow and arrow,” he states. “And somehow he detected I was here and I commenced to flee.”

He ended up confronting the Mashco Piro. For decades, Tomas—who lives in the small settlement of Nueva Oceania—served as virtually a local to these wandering tribe, who avoid contact with outsiders.

An updated report by a rights organisation states remain no fewer than 196 described as “isolated tribes” remaining globally. This tribe is thought to be the largest. The report says half of these tribes might be wiped out within ten years should administrations fail to take more to protect them.

It argues the greatest threats are from timber harvesting, digging or exploration for oil. Remote communities are highly at risk to common disease—consequently, the study notes a risk is caused by interaction with evangelical missionaries and online personalities in pursuit of engagement.

Recently, Mashco Piro people have been appearing to Nueva Oceania more and more, based on accounts from residents.

The village is a fishermen's hamlet of a handful of households, located atop on the banks of the local river in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, 10 hours from the nearest settlement by canoe.

This region is not classified as a protected area for remote communities, and logging companies operate here.

Tomas says that, on occasion, the sound of logging machinery can be heard day and night, and the community are seeing their woodland damaged and destroyed.

Among the locals, people report they are divided. They fear the Mashco Piro's arrows but they also possess strong respect for their “brothers” who live in the woodland and desire to defend them.

“Permit them to live in their own way, we can't change their way of life. That's why we keep our distance,” states Tomas.

Residents in Nueva Oceania are anxious about the harm to the Mascho Piro's livelihood, the threat of conflict and the chance that deforestation crews might subject the Mashco Piro to sicknesses they have no resistance to.

At the time in the village, the Mashco Piro appeared again. Letitia, a young mother with a two-year-old daughter, was in the forest picking fruit when she noticed them.

“We detected calls, shouts from others, many of them. As if it was a whole group shouting,” she shared with us.

This marked the first instance she had met the tribe and she fled. After sixty minutes, her head was persistently racing from terror.

“Since there are deforestation crews and companies clearing the jungle they're running away, possibly because of dread and they arrive in proximity to us,” she explained. “We don't know what their response may be to us. That is the thing that frightens me.”

Two years ago, two individuals were assaulted by the Mashco Piro while catching fish. A single person was hit by an bow to the gut. He recovered, but the second individual was located dead days later with several arrow wounds in his physique.

The administration has a policy of avoiding interaction with isolated people, establishing it as prohibited to initiate contact with them.

The policy originated in Brazil following many years of campaigning by tribal advocacy organizations, who noted that first exposure with remote tribes could lead to whole populations being decimated by disease, poverty and hunger.

During the 1980s, when the Nahau community in the country made initial contact with the outside world, 50% of their community perished within a short period. During the 1990s, the Muruhanua people faced the same fate.

“Remote tribes are extremely vulnerable—in terms of health, any exposure may introduce diseases, and including the simplest ones could eliminate them,” states Issrail Aquisse from a tribal support group. “From a societal perspective, any contact or interference could be highly damaging to their way of life and well-being as a group.”

For local residents of {