Uncontacted Amazonian tribe photographed

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080529/sc_nm/brazil_tribe_dc

Pretty interesting, especially the photos.

Those guys with the bows look like they mean business

here is the news story that goes with it:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080529/sc_ ... Qx6eik4LgF

When will these people learn you don't fire arrows, there is no fire involved, you loose them!

I fear very much for these peoples it won't be long before someone introduces the AK47 and a host of diseases to them.

They definitely can get cranky if you #$%^ them off. My wife's dad had to eat roast monkey once; he was raised on an island in the Amazon river with similar ancestry and appearance as the Indians. It was a challenge for even him to contact indigenous tribes. They get REALLY offended if you turn down their food. If you think Aspies gets punished in our society for misreading social cues, find out what the consequences are for misreading the Amazon Indians social cues.

Actually, much worse could happen: A politician escorts their leader to Brasilia and gets them free money. Alcoholism will set in. In a generation, they become pawns living in poverty at the mercy of corrupt politicians. Some people call this "progress".

I saw this today and I thought it was amazing. That there are still people living with no idea of the modern world. I wonder what they thought of the aeroplane. But it is true, it can all be ruined so quickly. But what is really best for these people - we may think that their rights to live like that should be protected, but maybe given the choice they would prefer to have lives like ours.

They did not look very happy to see strange things flying over them, were they shooting arrows too?

But they won't be given lives like ours!! They will be "given" a beggars life, their original way of life will be snuffed out, but their standard of living will show ZERO improvement. They will be transformed into the lower economic rung of society with no land. The OP posted the "before" photo. I shall post the after:

That looks like the camp on the show M.A.S.H. I would love to live like that.

It has no supply tent, no shower tent, no latrine, no mess tent, no MPs, no motor pool, etc.

Last edited by tailfins1959 on 30 May 2008, 3:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm surprised you haven't suggested going in there and converting them to Christianity yet.

The only change I've noticed caused by teaching them the gospel is covering their nudity. There are even Bibles in some of their indigenous languages. Learning English or Portuguese is not required to become Christian. There's no difference in teaching the gospel in the Amazon or in Central Park in NYC, except the language.

Some of the missionaries are linguistic experts. They transform the spoken language into a written language, record in writing the previous religious beliefs of the indigenous people (which often helps when it is compared to the Biblical account), translate the Bible into their language and discuss various aspects of history, such as regarding origins and the flood (id est, the common history.) The choice is theirs inevitably. But to do nothing, what is that worth?

Steering the subject away from religion again, it's amazing that there are still some tribes that have never been contacted by the outside world. No doubt they will suffer the same fate as the other Native American tribes in time, but while they're free from modernity, long may they live.

I think it would be more valuable if they where left alone, if they where to be converted to a different faith then their culture could be lost.

Not necessarily, especially if the missionaries are only semi-assimilated Indians themselves.