Isolated peoples

Village of the Florida Seminoles, who lived in voluntary isolation until the first decades of the 20th century (1929)

Isolated peoples is a collective term for ethnic groups that have so far had little or no contact with the majority population of a country (and thus also with the globalized society ). Contacts with other indigenous groups can certainly exist, but in many cases contact is avoided due to external experiences of illness and violence.

This term is usually used to denote present or recent past indigenous groups. With the exception of the Andaman peoples, they all live in very remote wilderness regions . In South America - where most of these local communities exist - they are broken down into three categories:

Groups in voluntary isolation ( Indígenas en aislamiento voluntario, etc.)
groups not contacted ( No contactados etc.)
undiscovered indigenous groups ( pueblos ocultos, etc.)

Because of their isolation, the isolated ethnic groups represent the so-called traditional societies . In this context, they also correspond most closely to the “cold” cultures of structural ethnology, whose guiding principle is the endeavor to preserve the traditional cultural characteristics as unchanged as possible (above all modes of subsistence , ethnic religions , languages and material cultures ). In German-speaking countries, they are popularly regarded as the epitome of the so-called " primitive peoples ".

Terminology

There is great disagreement about the name. In any case, it is not about "Stone Age people", "with whom time has stood still", as romanticizing publications and film contributions would have us believe to this day, and from which tourism companies try to profit. Mostly these are indigenous peoples who have had bad experiences with the rest of society and therefore avoid (fear) any contact. In this case, the term " uncontacted peoples " , which is often used, is incorrect, because they have been fleeing since they were "contacted". In English usage, the incorrect term lost tribes (lost tribes, after the lost tribes of Israel ) appears.

Communities living in voluntary isolation

These groups already had contact, which they deliberately broke off due to negative experiences. They have been forced to withdraw to more remote regions in order to protect their health (transmission of unknown diseases) and to preserve or restore their traditions and their cultural identity . Unwanted contact and displacement often result from clearing, mining, road construction and intrusions by prospectors such as prospectors.

The fact that indigenous groups avoid western civilization by all means after their first catastrophic contact is not a new phenomenon, as the flight of the Seminoles to the Everglades in the early 19th century shows , for example . They maintained their voluntary isolation into the first decades of the 20th century.

Uncontacted communities

Sighting of an isolated group while flying over the Brazilian state of Acre (2012)

These groups were only recently "discovered" by the non-indigenous majority society; however, (physical) contact has not yet taken place or has only taken place to a very limited extent.

The famous aerial photos from Acre (see photos on the right), which went around the world in 2008, are from a group that the Brazilian Indian Authority ( FUNAI ) has known for 20 years, but with which no direct contact has been made so far. The publication of pictures is always associated with a risk for those concerned. In this case, it was only carried out to provide the government of Peru with evidence that there are ethnic groups in the border region that are worthy of protection and that would be endangered by planned clearing and oil drilling.

Undiscovered indigenous communities

In the tropical rain forests of the world there are still some today unexplored areas where indigenous groups believed to exist. Their existence is therefore unproven and their number can only be estimated. The reports of new “sightings” by members of the majority population who have penetrated into these areas prove their existence in principle.

Occurrences and circumstances

Areas where isolated peoples live or are suspected to live

Most of the isolated groups live in densely forested areas of Latin America and western New Guinea . Advocates for the rights of these people are increasingly demanding that isolation be maintained. The central motive of this demand is based on the fact that most members of these groups have only a weak immunity against diseases of the rest of the world, such as flu or measles , so that historical experience shows that one third to nine tenths of people dies on first contact. The argument of the right to self-determination and the right to isolation takes a back seat, but is also cited.

The endangerment of these groups results on the one hand from the population growth of new settler groups, on the other hand from the economic use of their natural environment. In South America it is primarily wood and palm oil plantations as well as the search for oil and gas that destroy the natural foundations of the mostly very small groups of Amazonia. After the slave hunters of the 16th and 17th centuries, many groups fled from the armed gangs of the rubber barons in the 1880s to 1920s, the timber and gas and oil companies of the 19th to 21st centuries. The seclusion of the retreating groups is often a colonial product that can only be explained by the extreme emergency in which the groups struggling for their survival saw themselves. Some of the groups were also completely isolated from hostility with their neighbors. The most common reason, however, was probably to flee from epidemics and violence. The collapse of rubber prices after 1910 led in a slow process to the fact that in some regions the recruited plantation workers were held like slaves or debt servants until the 1980s.

In New Guinea as well as in South America, the missionaries of Roman Catholic religious orders and evangelical groups have been a threat to the isolated groups since the colonial times. In the past, most converts died of unknown diseases in the missions established . The mission stations are inevitably the outer outposts of civilization that lure further strangers into the habitats of the indigenous people. The Christianization often brought controversy, so that groups that do not want to live as imposed by the missionaries, often fought the converts.

Road construction has been promoted especially since the 1980s. Numerous vehicles were able to get to the remote regions of Amazonia, which resulted in a faster exploitation of the mineral resources. Today, the quick accessibility of the regions is the greatest danger for the isolated and indigenous groups, because it brings the known threats. Family structures are smashed and the groups are scattered in extremely wide spaces. In 2008, Google Earth Outreach set up training courses for twenty representatives of indigenous peoples in the Amazon rainforest region of Brazil , including the Suruí , to monitor illegal logging by satellite in their reserve. If necessary, you can get more current and higher resolution images from Google .

The belief that magic is the cause of such a catastrophe, which is inexplicable to their worldview, is particularly dangerous for these groups. This is what anthropologists and religious scholars suspect , which they were able to prove in some cases. In addition, the refugees mostly did not come to uninhabited countries and often came into conflict with their new neighbors, if only because of the lack of communication opportunities in a linguistically extremely fragmented region. Subcontractors from Shell and loggers drove the Yora towards Manú National Park , where they attacked the communities of Matsigenka , Tayacome and Yomibato . Groups such as the Mashco Piro had to shifting cultivation , which they had operated for a long time, completely give up and to a nomadic life as hunters and gatherers return.

The UN , recognizing that local governments are showing insufficient resistance to economic temptations, is endeavoring to enforce a declaration to protect isolated peoples. Various human rights organizations stand up for the isolated peoples: Survival International is particularly well-known here . Support from Germany comes from the Friends of the Indigenous People's Association

The situation in the individual countries is very different. Most of the isolated peoples of America are found in the Amazon region as well as in some of the border areas of Brazil . In Asia there are few groups in the Andamans and Malaysia , and until a few decades ago there were also one in Vietnam and some in Australia . New Guinea has an unknown but probably very high number of isolated peoples. There are probably well over 100 of them worldwide, in Brazil alone just under 70 have been identified so far, in Indonesian New Guinea at least 44 groups are known.

South America

Bolivia

Five isolated peoples were known in Bolivia in 2006, another three have not yet been found. The Ayoreo in the Kaa-Iya del Gran Chaco National Park , the Mbya-Yuqui in the Yuqui Reserve and the Rio Usurinta (only a few families still live in isolation), the Yuracare in the Santa Cruz Department and in the Beni Department , the Pacahuara in the Chacobo are confirmed Reserve and the Araona in the Araona Reserve. The existence of the Toromona and Nahua in Madidi National Park is still unconfirmed .

According to most sources, the isolated groups include the Sinabo / Kapuibo ( Nahua ) at the lower Beni and lower Yata , who have fewer than 200 members ; they speak pano and are closely related to the chakobo . The second group are the 100 to 200 Yanaigua between the Rio Grande and the upper Río San Miguel . Whether they speak Pano or rather Tupí-Guarani is not certain. They are related to the Yuqui and mostly live in the Guarayos forest reserve. There are also around 100 yuqui between the upper Ichilo and the upper Yapacaní . You speak Tupí-Guarani; a small isolated group lives in the Amboró National Park .

Brazil

Indian reservations in Brazil

An isolated group sighted while flying over the Brazilian state of Acre (2009)

Most of the isolated groups live in Brazil . About 16 live in the state of Amazonas , 7 in Rondônia (on the border with Bolivia), 8 in Pará in the north of the country, 2 in Acre in the far west, 3 in Mato Grosso and one each in Amapá and Roraima in the far north as well as Maranhão and Tocantins in the eastern center of the vast country.

Until the 1980s, FUNAI contacted immediately when a new group was discovered. Only the realization of the devastating consequences (especially the outbreak of deadly epidemics and the work of subsequent missionaries) led to a new strategy. In 1988 the Brazilian government founded the Coordenação Geral de Indios Isolados (CGII) special unit to protect these peoples. The CGII is supposed to "accompany" newly discovered groups unnoticed from a great distance and is only allowed to establish contact if, for example, there is danger from illegal loggers or gold prospectors.

On January 18, 2007, the responsible FUNAI announced that it was aware of 67 isolated groups in Brazil; In 2005 there were only 40. In the last few decades numerous groups have come into permanent contact with globalized society, such as the Kayapo-Gorotiré in 1938, Guavião and Shavante in the 1950s or Marubo in the following decade; then the Yuqui and the southern Wayãpi in the early 1970s. More than half of them died of infectious diseases after contacting them.

Seven Terras Indígenas (reserves) are exclusively reserved for isolated groups. These are Alto Tarauacá in Acre with the various Isolados do Alto Tarauacá ; then Hi-Merimã in Amazonia, where the Himerimã or Isolados do médio Purus live. The Sirionó also live in Massaco in Rondônia ( Isolados do rio São Simão ), where Kanoe do Omerê and Akuntsu also live in Igarapé Omerê. In the Rio Muqui reserve, also in Rondônia, the Isolados das cabeceiras do rio Muqui (also Miqueleno-Kujubim?) Live, then Isolados do Rio Pardo (Tupi-Guarani-Kawahibi) in the Rio Pardo reserve in Mato Grosso and Amazonas, after all, not identified groups in Xinane isolados in Acre.

In other reservations (Terras Indigenas) there are numerous other groups:

Awá in Maranhão
Nivarura in Amazonas - first contact in 2010 by Xionity missionaries
Avá-Canoeiro in Goiás
Arara do Rio Branco in Mato Grosso - Isolados da margem esquerda do médio Rio Roosevelt / Rio Branco
Aripuanã in Rondônia - Isolados da margem esquerda do médio Rio Aripuanã , Isolados do Río Pacutinga / Aripuanã , Isolados do Médio Rio Branco do Aripuanã
Bujiwa in the Amazon - first known contact in 1943
Caru in Maranhão - Awá ( Isolados do igarapé Água Branca )
Inãwébohona in Tocantins - Avá-Canoeiro ( Isolados da Mata do Mamão )
Kampa and Isolados do Rio Envira in Acre
Kaxinawa do Rio Humaitá in Acre - unidentified
Koatinemo in Pará - unidentified
Menkragnoti in Pará - Mengra Mrari
Raposa Serra do Sol in Roraima - not identified, "discovered" in 2006 near Monte Roraima and Monte Caburaí (2 to 4 km from the border triangle Brazil-Venezuela-Guyana)
Mamoadate in Acre - Mashko ( Isolados do Alto Iaco ).
Jaminaua-Envira - Isolados das cabeceiras do rio Jaminaua
Riozinho do Alto Envira in Acre - Isolados do Riozinho / Envira
Rio Teá in Amazonas - four groups Nadeb (?): Cabeceira dos rios Waranaçu e Gururu, Médio rio Tiquié, Cabeceiras dos rios Curicuriari e Dji and Cabeceiras do rio Teá. Two other groups in nearby Eneiuxi (Médio rio Eneiuxi) and Urubaxi (Cabeceira do rio Urubaxi e Bafuanã) may be Nedeb
Tumucumaque in Pará - Akurio .
Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau in Rondônia - four to six isolated groups including Isolados das cabeceiras do rio Muqui , Isolados do rio Cautário , Cabeceiras do rio Água Branca, and Jururei
Vale do Javari in Amazonas - seven groups live there: Cabeceiras de Santana e igarapé Flexeira, Korubo , Isolados do Coari-Río Branco , Isolados do rio Quixito , Isolados do Rio Jandiatuba , Isolados do Rio Jutaí and Isolados dos rios Jaquirana / Amburus
Waimiri Atroari in Amazonas - Formadores do rio Alalaú (Piriutiti) and Formadores do rio Jatapu (Karafawyana or Chamakoto)
Xikrin do Cateté in Pará
Araribóia in Mato Grosso - Isolados dos rios Buriticupu e Taruparu
Cuminapanema - Zo'é
Tanaru - a single man is the last representative of this tribe. His relatives fell victim to illness or were murdered.

Surname	Relatives	residential area	comment
Apiaká	more than 100	Mato Grosso - between the lower reaches of the Rio Juruena and Teles Pires	Tupí-Guarani isolated Apiaká group murdered
Apurinã	more than 50	Amazon - Upper Rio Sepatini	Arawak
Aruá	maybe 75	Rondônia	Tupi – Mondé between Mequéns and Colorado Living in the Rio Branco IT and Guaporé BR in Roraima Rio São Miguel outside the reserves Logging frequent fights
Avá-Canoeiro	30th	northern Goiás and Bananal Island in Tocantins	Tupí-Guarani small, mobile group
Guaja	120	in western Maranhão	Tupí-Guarani also after contact mobile, small group stay in their own, but also in other reserves
Ingarune	about 100	northern Pará - Rio Cuminapanema and Paru de Oeste	Caribs in relation to Kachuyana Confirmed by Poturuyar, on whose reservation they live, who were themselves isolated until recently, Tupí-Guaraní
Kanibo (Mayo)	120-150	Rio Quixito , Javari Basin, Amazon	probably pano . unsuccessful contacts occasional contact with loggers
Kaniwa ( Korubo )	300	9 Malocas between the lower reaches of Ituí and Itacuaí, Amazon	Pano occasional contacts repellent
Karafawyana and other Caribs	400-500	four locations in Roraima and North Pará Sources of the Jatapu Rio Urucurina , tributary of the Mapuera Rio Kafuini , tributary of the Trombeta Upper Turuna, tributary of the Trombeta	mostly Caribbean Caribs, Parukoto-Charuma subgroup Relations with Waiwai Obtained metal tools from Waiwai z. T. in the Trombetas-Mapuera reserve
Karitiana	50-100	upper Rio Candeias , Rondônia	Tupi – Arikem, contacted by the small, isolated group
Katawixi	50	upper Rio Muquim , tributary of the Purus, Amazon	isolated language
Kayapó do Rio Liberdade	more than 100	lower Rio Liberdade, northern Mato Grosso	Gé, identified by other Kayapó who are hostile to them
Kayapó-Pu'ro	100	lower Rio Curuá, south Pará	Kayapó, split from the Mekragnoti since 1940, live outside the Kayapó reserve
Kayapó-Pituiaro	200	Rio Murure , South Pará	Kayapó, split off from the cub sick since 1950. Some outside the Kayapó reserve
Kayapó- Kararaoh	about 50	lower Rio Guajara , South Pará	Kayapó, separation of the Kararaoh
Kulina	unknown	Rio Curuça, tributary of the Javari, Amazon	Arawan, small isolated groups belonging to the large Kulina group
Maku (Nadeb)	about 100	Uneiuxi and Urubaxi Basins, Amazon	isolated language
Mamaindé	50-100	upper Rio Corumbiara , Rondônia	Isolated language, group of the Nambikwara; Protection zone lifted under local pressure, murdered
Hi-Merimã	1500	Riozinho, tributary of the Cuniuã, Purus Basin, Amazon	Arawan (?), Protected
Mayoruna	200-300	3 areas in the Amazon: Rio Batã , headwaters of the Javari Rio Pardo Between Pardo and Middle Javari	Pano , small isolated group of the larger Mayoruna group
Miqueleno (Cujubi)	?	upper Rio São Miguel, Rondônia	isolated Chapacura language, invading loggers, massacres
Nereyana	about 100	Rio Panama, headwaters of the Paru do Oeste, North Pará	Caribbean, perhaps closer to the Kachuyana than the Tiriyo
Pacaás Novos (2) Oromawin subgroup	about 150	Serra dos Pacaás Novos, Rondônia (2) Headwaters of the Rio Formoso , Rondônia	isolated Chapacura language; isolated group of Pacaás Novos in the Uru-eu-wau-wau reserve (2) in the vicinity of one of the Pacaás Novos reserves
Papavo upper group to which Mashco / Harakmbet Culina Amahuaca and Yawanahua belong	more than 400	Acre (scattered over a large territory) (1) Rio Breu, headwaters of the upper Jurua (2,3,4) Between the sources of the Envira and the Muru and the reserve Igarapé Xinané, tributary of the Purus	Disputes with Kampa , friendly relations with Kulina (1) Isolated language on the Alto Jurua (2,3,4) - (2) Arawan, (3,4) Pano - two reserves were set up for them
Pariuaia	more than 100	Rio Bararati, tributary of the Lower Juruena, Amazon	probably Tupi – Kawahib, Tupí-Guaraní; have refused to make any contact since 1930
Piriutiti	100-200	Rio Curiau, Amazon	Relations with Waimiri-Atroari (Caribs), in whose reservation they partly live
Sateré	unknown	Rio Parauari, tributary of the Maués-açu, Amazon	Tupi, long split off from Sateré-Maué
Tupi-Kawahib (Piripicura)	200-300	between Madeirinha and Roosevelt, northern Mato Grosso	Tupí-Guaraní, access recently blocked
Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau	300	Serra dos Pakaás-Novas, Rondônia	Tupí-Guaraní, at least three isolated groups in the Uru-eu-wau-wau reserve
Wayãpi (Yawãpi)	100-150	upper Ipitinga, between Jari and Paru do Leste, north of Pará.	Tupí-Guaraní, splitting off of the southern Wayãpi
Yakarawakta	20-30	between Aripuanã and Juruena, Mato Grosso Norte	Tupí-Guaraní, probably an apiaka subgroup
Yanomami	300	Amazon upper marauia between Demini and Catrimani	Yanomami. in the reserve Isolated groups outside the reserve but in the Rio Branco National Park
unnamed	about 100	between upper Amapari and upper Oiapoque, Amapa	According to information from the southern Wayãpi, a group that has split off from them, according to information from the northern Wayãpi, opponents of the Tapüiy
unnamed ( Isolados do Jandiatuba )	300	between upper Jandiatuba and Itacuaí, Amazon	maybe a Katukina group
unnamed ( Isolados do São José )	300	Igarapé São José, tributary of the Itacuaí , Amazon	probably not the Isolados do Jandiatuba
unnamed	unknown	Igarapé Recreio, Cruzeiro do Sul municipality, Upper Juruá, Acre	Pano (?)
unnamed ( Isolados do Igarapé Tueré )	unknown	Igarapé Tueré, tributary of the Itacaiúnas, Pará	Tupi (?)
unnamed (Isolados do Arama e Inaui)	about 100	south of the Rio Inauini, Purus Basin, Amazon
unnamed (Isolados do Igarapé Umari)	unknown	Igarapé Umari, tributary of the Ituxi, Amazon
unnamed (Isolados da Serra do Taquaral)	unknown	Serra do Taquaral, sources of the Rio Branco, Rondônia

Colombia

Colombia offers extensive protection to isolated groups. One group are the Carabayo-Aroje in the Parque Nacional del Río Puré , of the second group, the Yari, it is not clear whether they still exist. The Nukak-Maku were visited in 2003. Perhaps 25 to 35 Nukak are still living in isolation after being severely decimated by disease and suicides.

Isolated groups are the approximately 150 Carabayo at the source of the Purué, north of the Putumayo , who possibly speak Carabayo, perhaps also Yuri. They also wander into Brazilian territory and refuse any approach. The approximately 300 Guaviare Macusa or Nukak live in Guainia between the Guaviare and Inírida rivers. The Nukak language is not classified. After the initial contact, the population fell from 800 to 300, 50 live in isolation. An unnamed group known as Isolados dos Rio Yari live in isolation in the Caqueta department on the upper Río Yari . It is unclear whether their language belongs to the Caribbean or whether they use an isolate. They belong to either the Karijona or the Witoto and live in the Chiribiquete National Park.

Ecuador

In the area of the Yasuní National Park in the Amazon lowlands of Ecuador ( Oriente ) there are at least three different local groups of the Tagaeri Taromenans, who culturally and linguistically belong to the Waorani :

Group "Río Conocaco Chico - Vía Tiguino" in the northwest,
Group "Río Yasuní - Río Tivacuno" in the northeast,
Group "Río Cunchiyacu" in the southwest of the Waorani region

Each group consists of around 50 to a maximum of 100 people (2015). The term "Tagaeri-Taromenane" is used as a synonym for all isolated groups in Ecuador. It is made up of the two well-known ethnic groups, the Taromenane - who presumably went into voluntary isolation at the time of the rubber boom - and the Tagaeri - who split off from the Waorani in 1965.

Due to the long separation from the Waorani and a few encounters, ethnologists assume that the Taromenans have similarities and differences in their material culture, language and way of life compared to the Waorani.

With the Tagaeri in particular, there were repeated armed clashes with foreign intruders and hostile groups of the (civilized) Waorani, but also intertribal feuds. Cabodevilla (2005) assumes that they were considerably decimated in the process and that the survivors joined the Taromenane.

Another group of five or six individuals of the Oñamenane as well as the Huiñatars also belong to the isolated groups of the Waorani. It is unclear whether these are independent groups or just other names for the isolated groups of the Tagaeri Taromenane. There may be other groups of other ethnic origins in the border area with Peru. Due to the Texaco oil prospecting , the Tetetes and Sansahuaris disappeared as early as the 1980s.

As early as 1999, the state of Ecuador set up a “forbidden zone” for the isolated tribes ( Zona intangible Tagaeri-Taromenane - ZITT), which can only be entered with special permission. The real implementation of this plan did not take place until January 2007 after serious incidents and under international pressure. The ZITT, which lies in the southern part of the Yasuni and large areas of the neighboring Waorani Territory to the north, covers 7,580 km² and is almost three times the size of Luxembourg.

Despite the existing protective measures, the future prospects for the isolated Waorani of Ecuador are uncertain, particularly due to the expanding oil production - which automatically leads to increasing settlement.

Guyana

In Guyana , around 100 wapishana live between the sources of the Essequibo and the Tacutu ; they speak Arawak and are a split from the Wapishana. They refuse any contact. Another group of unknown names consists of about 100 people between the upper Courantyne. They speak Caribbean and may be related to the Tiriyo.

French Guyana

In French Guiana , an isolated group is known, the Wayãpi . About 100 relatives live between Eureupoucine and Upper Camopi. You speak Tupi – Guarani, probably split off from the Wayãpi of the upper Oyapock around 1900 and refuse to make any contact.

Peru

Distribution area of the Pano languages in Peru, Brazil and Bolivia

Peru has the highest number of isolated peoples after Brazil and New Guinea. There are five reserves there, albeit poorly secured against illegal logging. There are also oil exploration companies that endanger the peoples, such as the Franco-British company Perenco or the Spanish Repsol . In Bagua there were serious riots with 30 dead, the river Napo River has been blocked. In August 2011, indigenous groups went to the Supreme Court.

In 2006 the following groups were known: In the Reserva Comunal Amarakaeri some groups speak Yora . You belong to a group that fled here about a century ago. There are also other unidentified Pano- speaking tribes. The Cacatibo live in the Zona Reservada Biabo Cordillera Azul; the Mashco-Piro , an isolated group of the Matsiguenga , belong to the Yura family. The unidentified tribes live in the Manú National Park . Uncontacted groups of the Asháninka live in the Reserva Communal Asháninka, Reserva Communal Matsiguenga (see Machiguenga ) and in the Otishi National Park . In the National Park Alto Purus and the Reserva Communal Purus live Yaminahua , Chitonahua , Curajeño and Mashco-Piro-Iñapari ; Kungapakori , Nahua , Matsiguenga, Nanti , Kirineri and other unidentified tribes live in the Reserva Territorial del Estado . In the Reserva Territorial del Murunahua y Chitonahua live Murunahua - for contacts in the 1990s with loggers died half of them, Chitonahua, in the Reserva Territorial del Isconahua the Isconahua . Different tribes of the Mashco-Piro live in the Reserva Territorial del Mashco-Piro, in the Reservas territoriales del Cacataibo the Cacataibo live.

There are also about 150 Morunahua , which are probably related to the Papavo in Brazil; then about 200 Parquenahua in the Manú National Park who speak Pano , finally about 200 Pisabo who belong to the same language.

Indigenous organizations such as FENAMAD, the Matsigenka Council of the Urubamba River , COMARU, the regional organization of Atalaya, OIRA and AIDESEP stand up for the rights of groups that insist on isolation.

Surinam

In Suriname , some of the Caribbean Akulio are the only ones living in isolation. The approximately 50 people live in the border area to Brazil between the sources of the Itani and the Jari. They refuse any contact and first appeared in the 1970s.

Venezuela

300 to 400 members of the Yanomami live in the Amazonas state on the upper reaches of the Siapa. They have contacts with each other, but reject external contacts. They live in the Parima-Tapirapeco National Park.

Paraguay

In Paraguay in the late 1960s / early 1970s a large-scale ethnic cleansing and deportation abroad for most of the Ayoreode people took place by missionaries (New Tribes, Salesians). The local group of the Totobiegosode was spared (about 90 people at the time). In 1979 and 1986 the New Tribes missionaries tracked down forest camps in the Totobiegosode with search flights and initiated manhunts. In the 1986 capture operation, the Totobiegosode killed five of the missionary Ayoreos sent out. The prisoners were taken to the mission, where everyone fell ill and some died. In 2004 a group of 12 with five children threatened by extensive clearing decided to contact their relatives, who were building their new forest village in the region near Chaidi on secured land. In early September 2007, woodcutters sighted another group in the western Chaco . Today, the main threat comes from the farmers. There were repeated violent clashes, including in 1994 and 1998. The Totobiegosode attacked workers and forest harvesters with spears, bows and arrows. The last known defense reaction was in 2005.

Since 2002, through the monitoring of the Paraguayan organization Iniciativa Amotocodie with the Ayoreo organization UNAP, it has been known that five Ayoreode groups live in voluntary isolation - three of them cross-border to Bolivia - in northern Chaco Paraguay. One of them are Totobiegosode, the other four are unidentified Ayoreo groups, but certainly not Totobiegosode, estimated at around 100 to 150 people in total. More than 150 documented signals speak for their presence (including hacked bees trees, footprints, sightings of people). The Totobiegosode group is known to include eleven people known by name, led by a powerful shaman. In addition, another Ayoreode group was confirmed in voluntary isolation for Bolivia. In both Bolivia and Paraguay, the protective measures on the part of the state are inadequate.

These Ayoreode (Ayoreo) are considered to be the last groups to live in voluntary isolation in South America outside the Amazon region. In 2008 Paraguay prevented a Brazilian company from cutting down Ayoreo forests. However, this did not stop illegal logging for good.

North and Central America

In 1884 the last isolated Inuit people - the Tunumiit of Greenland - were discovered. (Symbol photo)

There are no longer any isolated peoples in North America today. In the first years of the 20th century, a group of the previously uncontacted Yahi lived in seclusion in a northern California valley. When it was discovered in 1908, four people were still alive. Three of them fled. The last survivor - Ishi - was found in 1911. In addition, the Seminoles in Florida - as already described - managed to maintain their voluntary isolation until the beginning of the 1920s.

Mexico

The Lacandon in Chiapas (Mexico), not far from the border with Guatemala , were the last isolated people in North America until 1924. The northern group continued to resist assimilation for a long time. In 1972 her land claim was recognized over an area of 6143 km².

Greenland

In 1884, the Danish naval officer Gustav Holm (1849–1940) discovered the last isolated Inuit group in the world, the Tunumiit of East Greenland, as head of the so-called women's boat expedition.

Africa

Some isolated groups may also exist in the inaccessible rainforests of Central Africa .

Asia

India

A group of Andaman men and women in typical clothing with body paints hunt turtles with a bow and arrow (around 1903)

Andaman Islands

The Sentinelese are an isolated indigenous people on North Sentinel Island (an Andaman island) and have refused to make any contact to this day. Her ancestors may have lived in this region for 60,000 years. Their language is very different from the other languages in the Andaman Islands. India has given up attempts to get them to contact them, especially since they repeatedly shot arrows at helicopters. Despite their isolation, their lives are also changed by the environment: For example, they use tools and weapons made of metal that they obtain from shipwrecks on the reefs of the island.

Jarawa

The indigenous people of the Jarawa (their own name Ya-eng-nga) have lived on the main Andaman Islands for several centuries in enmity with their neighbors, especially the Aka-Bea tribes . In doing so, they refused to have any contact with the British colonial rulers, as well as with Indian authorities, and repeatedly waged wars against them between 1872 and 1997. Jarawa were captured several times and learned Hindi, but escaped again. Since the completion of an expressway through their area, they have appeared occasionally from 1998 to take food as a "gift". They came to the Indian towns unclothed. Their number is estimated at 300. In 2002 the Supreme Court of India ordered the road to be closed, but in 2011 it was still in use. In 1999 and 2006 there were measles epidemics among the Jarawa, they are now avoiding all contact again.

Malaysia

Some groups of the Temiar Senoi have withdrawn into the inaccessible mountain rainforests of north-central Malaysia .

Vietnam

The Ruc came into contact with soldiers during the Vietnam War. They lived in caves in eastern Quang Binh Province . Several attempts to relocate her failed. You have been in contact with the rest of the world since 2006.

Australia and Oceania

Australia

In 1984, the Pintupi Nine was probably the last isolated group to be discovered in Australia. They lived in the Gibson Desert in Western Australia .

New Guinea

In the Indonesian province of Papua (also Irian Jaya or West Papua), 44 isolated groups are known to have had very little contact so far; for example the Korowai . In addition, there are certainly an unknown number of other tribes that deliberately do not want contact. The isolated peoples of Western New Guinea live in the regions of Gusawi, Lengguru, Derewo, Kokiri, Teriku, Foja, Waruta, Manu and Brazza-Digul.

literature

Matt Finer, Clinton N. Jenkins, Stuart L. Pimm , Brian Keane, Carl Ross: Oil and Gas Projects in the Western Amazon: Threats to Wilderness, Biodiversity, and Indigenous Peoples , in: PLoS ONE 3,8 (2008) ( online ).
Roland Garve, Frank Nordhausen: Laleo - the stolen stone age. As a dentist with the last primitive peoples , Berlin 2009.
Harald Hammarström: The status of the least documented language families in the world , in: Language Documentation & Conservation 4 (2010) 177–212.
John Hemming: The If You Must. Brazilian Indians in the Twentieth Century , New York: MacMillan 2003.
Neil Hughes: Indigenous Protest in Peru: The 'Orchard Dog' Bites Back , in: Social Movement Studies 9,1 (2010) 85-90.
Beatriz Huertas Castillo: Indigenous Peoples in Isolation in the Peruvian Amazon. Their Struggle for Survival and Freedom , International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs 2004; updated edition of the Spanish edition Los pueblos indígenas en aislamiento: su lucha por la sobravivencia y la libertad , Lima 2000.
Charles C. Mann: Anthropological Warfare , in: Science 19 (January 2001) pp. 416-421.
Alejandro Parellada: Pueblos indígenas en aislamiento voluntario y contacto inicial en la Amazonia y el Gran Chaco , Lima 2007.
Monte Reel: The Last of the Tribe: The Epic Quest to Save a Lone Man in the Amazon , New York 2010.
Vincent Brackelaire: Situación de los últimos pueblos indígenas aislados en América latina (Bolivia, Brasil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Perú, Venezuela). Diagnóstico regional para facilitar estrategias de protección , Brasilia 2006.

Web links

Press review: should indigenous peoples remain isolated? In: eurotopics . Federal Agency for Political Education .
Homepage: Let Them Live: Uncontacted Tribes. Survival International .

Remarks

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f María Cristina Blohm: Access to human genetic resources of indigenous peoples of Latin America: A stakeholder analysis. 1st edition, Gabler, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-8349-2439-1 . Pp. 95-99.

↑ Kirsch, Stuart: Lost Tribes: Indigenous people and the social imaginary. . In: Anthropological Quarterly . 70, No. 2, 1997, pp. 58-67. Retrieved October 23, 2012.

^ Photo Exhibit Offers Stunning View of Seminole History . In: indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com, accessed September 13, 2015.

^ Mark Dowie: Conservation Refugees. The Hundred-Year Conflict between Global Conservation and Native Peoples , Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2009, p. 202.

^ Google Earth, Training .

↑ Beatriz Huertas Castillo, p. 21.

↑ Andrew J. Hosmanek: Indigenous Homeland Security: A Proposed United Nations Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the International Law of First Contact , 2005 ( online at the Social Science Research Network ).

↑ There is a study by Donatella Schmidt on the Mbya in eastern Paraguay : Legislation, Development, and the Struggle for Land. The Case of the Mbya of Eastern Paraguay , in: Latin-American Antthop. Review 6.1 (1994) 11-28.

↑ They were already visited by the mission, more precisely by Fray Marcos de San José y Menendez, but anthropologists also visited them in 1928. There are groups as far as Venezuela.

↑ A film by Survival gives an impression of the situation in Brazil .

↑ Brazil sees traces of more isolated Amazon tribes , Reuters.

↑ A list of the isolated groups can be found in Carlos Alberto Ricardo, Beto Ricardo, Fany Ricardo: Povos indígenas no Brasil. 2006/2010 , Instituto Socioambiental, 2011, p. 55f. 23 nations appear there; they are therefore considered isolated in 2010, and contact was recently made with seven others. In total, the number of 47 isolated groups is given there (p. 57).

↑ Brazil: Land for last survivor of unknown Amazon tribe , Survival International, November 9, 2006.

↑ Philip Franz Fridolin Gondecki: We defend our forest. Dissertation at the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Bonn , online version , University and State Library Bonn, published on January 22, 2015, p. 363 ff.

↑ Heiko Feser: The Huaorani on the way into the new millennium. Ethnological Studies Vol. 35, Institute for Ethnology of the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, published by LIT Verlag, Münster, 2000. P. 181.

↑ Basically, with a focus on the Madre de Dios region in southeastern Peru, here is Beatriz Huertas Castillo: Indigenous Peoples in Isolation in the Peruvian Amazon. Their Struggle for Survival and Freedom , International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs 2004.

↑ Peru's indigenous peoples are taking legal action to stop the oil project ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Country contacts.@1@ 2

↑ Aman Gupta: Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples , Delhi 2005, p. 54.

↑ Presumably dispersed groups of the Nahua who fought hard against loggers and even the navy of Peru until 1985. They were subjected and within five years half of the Nahua died (Beatriz Huertas Castillo, p. 12).

↑ Aerial photographs reveal - illegal logging in a protection reserve ( memento of the original from March 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Country contacts. @1@ 2

↑ Emmanuel Lézy: Guyane, Guyanes. Une géographie sauvage de l'Orénoque à l'Amazone , Belin, 2000, p. 57. General on the relationship between the French and the indigenous peoples: Jean Hurault: Français et indiens en Guyane, 1604-1972 , Paris 1972.

^ Freunde der Naturvölker eV FdN website , October 25, 2013; Signs of uncontacted Indians seen as forest is cleared around them

^ Legal battle over forest is victory for Paraguayan Indians , CNN

↑ Survival names winner of 'Greenwashing Award' 2010 , Survival January 20, 2010.

↑ Bibliography: Ishi: The Last Yahi ( Memento of May 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), University of California, Library, San Francisco 2008.

↑ ^a ^b Bob Holmes: How many uncontacted tribes are left in the world? Daily News in: newscientist.com from August 22, 2013.

↑ Impression of the situation of the Sentinelese and Jarawa : Survival International (2010): Uncontacted Peoples Part 3 In Greatest Isolation on YouTube , accessed on November 28, 2018.

^ George Weber: The Negrito People and the Out-of-Africa Story of the Human Race. In: George Weber's Lonely Islands. 2009 (in the internet archive).

^ Survival International: The most isolated tribe in the world? undated, accessed November 28, 2018.

↑ George Weber: 8.) The Andamanese. In: The Andamanese. Draft book, 2006 (in the internet archive).

↑ Temiar , Indigenous Mapping: Ethnic Communities from Around the World , nativeplanet.org, Native Planet 2004, accessed on March 3, 2015. p. 215.

↑ Vietnamese message: Sự thật về những cơn đói của đồng bào Rục. (“Chut people are hungry”; version of December 24, 2008 in the Internet archive).

^ Colliding worlds: first contact in the western desert, 1932–84 , National Museum of Australia.

↑ First contact with isolated tribes? , BBC

↑ Survival International: How many uncontacted tribes are there in West Papua? . Retrieved September 14, 2015.

^ Survival International: Where are they? Map section New Guinea. Retrieved September 14, 2015.

[Blohm-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f María Cristina Blohm: Access to human genetic resources of indigenous peoples of Latin America: A stakeholder analysis. 1st edition, Gabler, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-8349-2439-1 . Pp. 95-99.

[2] Kirsch, Stuart: Lost Tribes: Indigenous people and the social imaginary. . In: Anthropological Quarterly . 70, No. 2, 1997, pp. 58-67. Retrieved October 23, 2012.

[3] Photo Exhibit Offers Stunning View of Seminole History . In: indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com, accessed September 13, 2015.

[4] Mark Dowie: Conservation Refugees. The Hundred-Year Conflict between Global Conservation and Native Peoples , Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2009, p. 202.

[5] Google Earth, Training .

[6] Beatriz Huertas Castillo, p. 21.

[7] Andrew J. Hosmanek: Indigenous Homeland Security: A Proposed United Nations Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the International Law of First Contact , 2005 ( online at the Social Science Research Network ).

[8] There is a study by Donatella Schmidt on the Mbya in eastern Paraguay : Legislation, Development, and the Struggle for Land. The Case of the Mbya of Eastern Paraguay , in: Latin-American Antthop. Review 6.1 (1994) 11-28.

[9] They were already visited by the mission, more precisely by Fray Marcos de San José y Menendez, but anthropologists also visited them in 1928. There are groups as far as Venezuela.

[10] A film by Survival gives an impression of the situation in Brazil .

[11] Brazil sees traces of more isolated Amazon tribes , Reuters.

[12] A list of the isolated groups can be found in Carlos Alberto Ricardo, Beto Ricardo, Fany Ricardo: Povos indígenas no Brasil. 2006/2010 , Instituto Socioambiental, 2011, p. 55f. 23 nations appear there; they are therefore considered isolated in 2010, and contact was recently made with seven others. In total, the number of 47 isolated groups is given there (p. 57).

[13] Brazil: Land for last survivor of unknown Amazon tribe , Survival International, November 9, 2006.

[14] Philip Franz Fridolin Gondecki: We defend our forest. Dissertation at the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Bonn , online version , University and State Library Bonn, published on January 22, 2015, p. 363 ff.

[15] Heiko Feser: The Huaorani on the way into the new millennium. Ethnological Studies Vol. 35, Institute for Ethnology of the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, published by LIT Verlag, Münster, 2000. P. 181.

[16] Basically, with a focus on the Madre de Dios region in southeastern Peru, here is Beatriz Huertas Castillo: Indigenous Peoples in Isolation in the Peruvian Amazon. Their Struggle for Survival and Freedom , International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs 2004.