An Amazon tribe, uncontacted by the outside world until now, has traveled away from their isolated home to make contact with modern civilization. They are telling those they encounter they are being forced from their homes by loggers, oil developers and drug traffickers.
Voyagers from the distant village emerged from the forest without adornment, except for loin clothes. The travelers appeared to be both curious and slightly nervous about their first contact with an unknown civilization. They started singing as they came into contact with the new group, possibly as a means of conveying their desire for peaceful contact.
Native people of the Amazon have lived in the area for hundreds or thousands of years without making contact with the modern world. This group lived in Peru, and they traveled over the border into Brazil during their journey to meet the outside world.
The seven natives were fleeing an attack from armed marauders, who killed several of the older members of their village. The attackers then burned the homes of the native people, as this small band fled for safety. The encounter was made at the Envira River, located at the border between Peru and Brazil.
Members of the native delegation were lightly armed, with bows and arrows.
The group was speaking a language similar to that of the nearby Jaminawa people. A member of that tribe was able to understand some of the words the visitors were trying to convey. Among these was the word "chara," which translates as "good." They also expressed their hunger to their new hosts, while touching their chests and thighs.
Funai, the Indian affairs agency for the Brazilian government, offered assistance to the travelers. A worker from that group offered the native people bananas, which a pair of the natives accepted.
The translator called the people the Chitonawa, and said they are hunter/gatherers who may just be entering the agricultural era, growing bananas and cassava, a type of starch-rich tuber.
Funai was first alerted to the presence of the uncontacted people when another tribe, known to the organization, reported the theft of metal tools from their encampment.
Health officials are worried that at least some members of the group may have contracted influenza during their encounter with the outside world. Such long-isolated groups have little immunity to diseases that people in modern cities can easily overcome. Up to half of all native groups who make contact this way later die of the flu or other contagious diseases.
Video of the first encounter, including the song of the native people, is available on the Funai YouTube channel.
