Kin within the Jungle: The Battle to Defend an Secluded Rainforest Tribe

The resident Tomas Anez Dos Santos was laboring in a small clearing far in the Peruvian rainforest when he heard sounds approaching through the thick forest.

It dawned on him that he stood hemmed in, and froze.

“One positioned, aiming with an arrow,” he recalls. “Unexpectedly he became aware that I was present and I commenced to flee.”

He had come confronting the Mashco Piro. For a long time, Tomas—residing in the tiny community of Nueva Oceania—had been practically a neighbour to these nomadic individuals, who shun engagement with foreigners.

Tomas feels protective towards the Mashco Piro
Tomas expresses care for the Mashco Piro: “Allow them to live as they live”

A new study issued by a human rights organization indicates there are a minimum of 196 termed “uncontacted groups” remaining in the world. This tribe is thought to be the biggest. The study states 50% of these tribes may be wiped out within ten years unless authorities fail to take further to protect them.

It claims the biggest risks come from timber harvesting, mining or exploration for petroleum. Remote communities are exceptionally susceptible to basic illness—as such, the report states a risk is caused by exposure with proselytizers and digital content creators looking for engagement.

Lately, members of the tribe have been venturing to Nueva Oceania increasingly, according to inhabitants.

This settlement is a fishermen's hamlet of several families, perched elevated on the banks of the Tauhamanu waterway in the heart of the of Peru jungle, a ten-hour journey from the nearest settlement by watercraft.

The area is not designated as a preserved zone for remote communities, and timber firms work here.

Tomas reports that, on occasion, the racket of logging machinery can be noticed continuously, and the community are seeing their jungle disrupted and ruined.

In Nueva Oceania, inhabitants say they are conflicted. They fear the projectiles but they also possess strong respect for their “brothers” who live in the forest and desire to protect them.

“Allow them to live in their own way, we must not modify their culture. For this reason we preserve our distance,” explains Tomas.

Mashco Piro people seen in Peru's Madre de Dios region area
Mashco Piro people photographed in the local area, in mid-2024

The people in Nueva Oceania are worried about the damage to the tribe's survival, the threat of aggression and the chance that timber workers might expose the tribe to sicknesses they have no resistance to.

At the time in the community, the group made themselves known again. A young mother, a resident with a two-year-old girl, was in the jungle gathering fruit when she heard them.

“We detected cries, shouts from others, many of them. As though it was a crowd calling out,” she informed us.

That was the initial occasion she had met the tribe and she fled. An hour later, her thoughts was continually pounding from fear.

“Since exist deforestation crews and operations clearing the woodland they are fleeing, possibly because of dread and they end up in proximity to us,” she stated. “It is unclear how they might react towards us. This is what scares me.”

Recently, a pair of timber workers were confronted by the tribe while angling. A single person was hit by an arrow to the stomach. He recovered, but the second individual was found lifeless after several days with several arrow wounds in his physique.

Nueva Oceania is a tiny angling community in the Peruvian forest
Nueva Oceania is a modest angling community in the of Peru jungle

The administration has a approach of no engagement with isolated people, making it prohibited to commence contact with them.

The policy began in a nearby nation after decades of lobbying by tribal advocacy organizations, who saw that first contact with isolated people lead to whole populations being decimated by illness, poverty and malnutrition.

During the 1980s, when the Nahau community in the country first encountered with the world outside, half of their population perished within a few years. In the 1990s, the Muruhanua people experienced the identical outcome.

“Isolated indigenous peoples are very vulnerable—in terms of health, any contact may introduce sicknesses, and even the most common illnesses could decimate them,” states an advocate from a tribal support group. “In cultural terms, any interaction or intrusion could be very harmful to their way of life and health as a society.”

For local residents of {

John Perkins
John Perkins

Tech enthusiast and writer with a passion for exploring cutting-edge innovations and sharing practical insights.