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- Published on Wednesday, 23 July 2014 17:00
- Written by editor
Survival Tribes News Act Now Donate
© G. Miranda/FUNAI/Survival
Dear supporter,
An alarming number of uncontacted Indians have been sighted fleeing Peru and entering Brazil.
Brazil’s Indian Affairs Department has warned that they face imminent "death" as they enter into the territory of other uncontacted tribes and settled communities. Rampant illegal logging in Peru is believed to be at the heart of this impending disaster.
There are only about 100 uncontacted tribes left in the world today. Introduced diseases are their biggest killer as they lack immunity to viruses such as influenza, measles and chicken pox. It is not unusual for tribes to be virtually wiped out after first contact.
The Panará people of Brazil, for example, were decimated when a highway was bulldozed through their land in the 1970s. Hundreds of road builders moved in, and with them came waves of deadly epidemics. Just 69 Panará survived, out of a population of around 400.
Aké, a Panará leader who survived, recalls this dark time: “We were in the village and everybody began to die. Some people went into the forest and more died there. We were ill and weak and couldn’t even bury our dead. They just lay rotting on the ground.”
We simply mustn’t allow another people to suffer the consequences of our unsustainable appetite for natural resources. Uncontacted tribes add enormously to the diversity of human life. To lose a tribe is to lose a language, knowledge of plants and animals and a view of life that is unique.
They will only survive if their land is mapped out and protected. Survival is campaigning for the Peruvian and Brazilian governments to implement these measures and to honor their promise to improve cross-border coordination to safeguard the tribes’ welfare.
Our recent success in having loggers evicted from the Awá’s land proves that, with enough pressure, we can stop these illegal activities.
Please, will you donate today and help us save these uncontacted tribes from extinction?
Yours,
Stephen Corry
—
Director, Survival International
2325 3rd Street, Suite 401, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA
6 Charterhouse Buildings, London, EC1M 7ET, UK
Survival International USA, 2325 3rd Street, Suite 401, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA
T +1 415 503 1254
Survival International, 6 Charterhouse Buildings, LONDON, UK, EC1M 7ET
T +44(0)20 7687 8700
www.survivalinternational.org
