Source: Technorati
In today's world, it isn't uncommon to feel that new geographic or cultural discoveries might be a thing of the past. It seems that every square inch of this world has been discovered, explored and even sometimes exploited. Every once in a while, though, we learn that this just is not the case.Satellite technology recently detected small forest clearings in a very remote, heavily wooded portion of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Straw huts and bananas trees were confirmed via flyover in the cleared area surrounded by heavy jungle.
Fabricio Amorim, regional coordinator for Funai, Brazil's indigenous foundation, believes that about 200 people may consider this village home. They are located in an area close to the Brazil, Peru and Bolivia borders and likely speak a language in the Pano linguistic group.
This region is known as Vale do Javari, and is thought to contain the largest concentration of isolated indigenous groups in the world. Funai confirms at least fourteen uncontacted tribes containing up to 2,000 individuals, but this number could rise as exploration expeditions increase in this area.
It is this exploration that, in addition to identifying new tribes, could also put them at risk. The exploration activity is due to business ventures such as oil exploration, mining, logging and ranching. Additionally, illegal activity such as drug trafficking and poaching of fish and animals is bringing new activity into the region.
The Brazilian government's current policy is to identify the tribes but to avoid contact for the good of the tribe. They feel the less external contact there is, the greater the safety of the tribe. However, if exploration and other human activity continues to increase in the region, the government may determine that contact is inevitable. In this case, the government could choose to reach out to the tribes as it would be considered a better option than contact by many of the others moving into the region.