Out of the Amazon: isolated jungle tribe emerges in Brazil asking for tools
Members of isolated tribe, possibly disturbed by drug traffickers in Peru, try to make contact but may be at risk from diseases, groups say
One of the world's most isolated tribes has started to emerge from deep in the Amazon and reach out to settled communities.
The rare contact by the tribe, which is part of the Jaminawa ethnic group, has raised fears that drug traffickers may be driving the nomadic people from their forest homes as Brazil's border with Peru becomes an increasingly important route for coca leaf smuggling.
The Jaminawa normally shun populated areas and have been known to shoot arrows at intruders, but local sources said that in recent weeks a group of as many as 30 members had repeatedly approached settlements along the Envira river to ask for tools and machetes, and to collect turtle eggs.
Before Indians were killed by loggers. Now they are killed by drug traffickers
"They tried to make contact and they appeared friendly. We don't know if they want to make full contact," said Francisco Estremadoyro of Propurus, a Peruvian organisation that sets up protection areas for such groups.
Such appearances are unusual, but not unknown. They also carry considerable dangers of contagion. Cold and flu viruses have proven deadly in the past to remote tribes with no immunity.
The Brazilian government's protection agency for indigenous groups has sent a team to assess the causes of the interaction and to minimise the disease threat.
"The team made contact with seven isolated indigenous peoples. They received medical treatment and were eliminated as a possible risk for spreading contagious diseases," said Madeleyne Machado of the agency's communications department.