Uncontacted tribes

Uncontacted, completely isolated tribes still live in harmony with their environments, they measure time by the cycles of the moon, they can gauge the type of Arctic ice by looking at patterns in the clouds, or  use the song of an African bird to guide them to bees’ nests in baobab trees.

For when the props, crutches and conveniences of “modern” life have been stripped away, tribal peoples — both uncontacted and contacted — show us that humanity is still part of nature, and that we ignore this at our peril.

Tribal peoples are, of course, not ecological saints, but their largely sustainable and communal ways of living do act as a counterpoint to the damaging excesses and solo living of many “modern” societies, showing us that humanity is about “we”, not “I”, belonging not ownership, human values not economics, balance with nature, not destruction. “I do know that the measure of a civilization is not how tall its buildings of concrete are, but rather how well its people have learned to relate to their environment and fellow man,” said Sun Bear, a Chippewa Indian.

The five most threatened uncontacted tribes are:

• Indians of the Pardo River, Brazil
• The Awá, Brazil (see picture below)
• Indians between the Napo and Tigre Rivers, Peru
• Indians of the Envira River, Peru
• The Ayoreo-Totobiegosode, Paraguay