These photos were just taken from some anthropologists’ plane who are trying to prove uncontacted tribes still exist in the Brazilian-Peruvian frontier, specifically the Envira region. Ho-lee schmoley, this is the best news I’ve heard in weeks. Sure, I know there are remote tribes in the Amazon, but this particular tribe is completely unknown — the anthros had no clue about their lineage, customs, language, nothing. This makes me so stoked. But it makes you wonder, if these Amerindians are hella pissed off, shooting arrows at these dudes, shouldn’t they just take off and leave these poor guys alone?

“It is extraordinary to think that, in 2008, there remain about a hundred groups of people, scattered over the Earth, who know nothing of our world and we nothing of theirs, save a handful of brief encounters,” writes the Daily Mail. Most of these uncontacted tribes are located in the jungles of South America, New Guinea and the remote North Sentinel island in the Indian Ocean.

More After the Jump

For more info, visit Survival International: http://www.survival-international.org
“We did the overflight to show their houses, to show they are there, to show they exist,” said Brazilian uncontacted tribes expert José Carlos dos Reis Meirelles Junior. “This is very important because there are some who doubt their existence…What is happening in this region [of Peru] is a monumental crime against the natural world, the tribes, the fauna and is further testimony to the complete irrationality with which we, the ‘civilised’ ones, treat the world,” said Meirelles.

Of course, these tribes are in constant — and increasing — threat by greedy multi-national companies who want their land. Illegal loggers, ranchers, miners. Basically the rogues gallery of Cheney-esque capitalists (yaye extraction industry!). Proving that these “ucontacted” natives exist is paramount to their survival, however, as logging officials have — with straight face and clear conscience (?) — denied their existence. This evidence is the kind of solid proof activists need to lock down government assistance.

Continues the Daily Mail:
“When anthropologists first overflew the area, they saw women and children in the open and no one appeared to be painted. It was only when the plane returned a few hours later that they saw these individuals covered head-to-toe in red. ‘Tribes in the Amazon paint themselves for all kinds of different reasons – one of which includes when they feel threatened or are aggressive,’” explains Miriam Ross of Survival International. “These pictures are further evidence that uncontacted tribes really do exist. The world needs to wake up to this, and ensure that their territory is protected in accordance with international law. Otherwise, they will soon be made extinct.”

[Their village…before loggers extract mahogany for a Lexus’ trim…]