Surviving in the Amazon

Apr 7, 2014

Surviving in the Amazon

Matt Bracken 0 Comment The Baltimore Sun Amazon, Brazil

Many indigenous groups, including the Huni Kui, Ashaninka, and Madija, live in villages in the Brazilian rainforest near the border with Peru. Over the past three years, the Ashaninka and Madija say that they have seen more and more incursions on their territory from uncontacted tribes, defined by Survival International as groups who have no peaceful contact with mainstream society. The “Bravos,” or “Braves,” as uncontacted Indians are called in the region, carry out raids on other villages, putting the communities along the Envira River on permanent alert. Photos and text by Reuters.

: Spiritual leaders of the Huni Kui Indian tribe perform a ceremony for a sacred samauma (silk-cotton) tree outside the village of Novo Segredo along the Envira river in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Indians who are considered uncontacted by anthropologists react to a plane flying over their community in the Amazon basin near the Xinane river in Brazil’s Acre State, near the border with Peru. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Indians who are considered uncontacted by anthropologists react to a plane flying over their community in the Amazon basin near the Xinane river in Brazil’s Acre State, near the border with Peru. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Indians who are considered uncontacted by anthropologists react to a plane flying over their community in the Amazon basin near the Xinane river in Brazil’s Acre State, near the border with Peru. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: A view of the Envira river in Huni Kui territory in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Ashaninka Indian children run down the bank of the Envira river to greet a boat near their village of Simpatia in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: A Madija Indian child walks from one of the village huts which is a frequent target of raids by uncontacted Indians in the village of Dsama, along the Envira river in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Ashaninka Indian couple Poshe and Biana talk about the kidnapping of their daughter Sawatxo, some years ago, by uncontacted Indians, in their village Simpatia, along the Envira river in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Ashaninka siblings pose for a photograph in their village, Simpatia, along the Envira river in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: A spiritual leader of the Huni Kui Indian tribe performs a ceremony for a sacred samauma (silk-cotton) tree outside the village of Novo Segredo along the Envira river in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Indians who are considered uncontacted by anthropologists react to a plane flying over their community in the Amazon basin near the Xinane river in Brazil’s Acre State, near the border with Peru. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: A Huni Kui Indian prepares a drink known as nixi pae or ayahuasca to use in a healing ritual in the village of Novo Segredo along the Envira river of Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: A spiritual leader of the Huni Kui Indian tribe blows an herbal powder into the nose of a tribal member during a ceremony outside the village of Novo Segredo along the Envira river of Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Huni Kui Indians sit by the coffin of a newborn baby who died after being born on a boat on the Envira river as the mother tried to reach a hospital, in the village of Me Txanava in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Huni Kui Indians perform a ritual in the village of Novo Segredo along the Envira river of Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: A Huni Kui Indian smokes herbs during a ritual in the village of Novo Segredo along the Envira river of Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: An Ashaninka Indian family navigates the Envira river towards the town of Feijo in search of medical care for a sick child, in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: The boat in which Ashaninka Indian leaders travelled to inspect the limits of their territory is tied to the bank of the Envira river in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: A view of the Shubua, or house of prayer, in the Huni Kui tribe’s village of Me Txanava in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Madija Indians clean a caiman to eat, on a boat on the Envira river in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Ashaninka Indians pose for a photograph in the village of Kokasul along the Envira river in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: A view of the Ashaninka Indian village called Nova Floresta along the Envira river in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: An Ashaninka Indian points his rifle across the Envira river on the grounds of a former government base called the Envira Front of Ethno-environmental Protection in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Ashaninka Indian cacique (chief) Txate stands inside a building of the former government base called the Envira Front of Ethno-environmental Protection along the Envira river in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Ashaninka Indian, cacique (chief) Txate, walks between buildings of the former government base called the Envira Front of Ethno-environmental Protection along the Envira river in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Ashaninka Indians hold a meeting to discuss their planned occupation of the former government base called the Envira Front of Ethno-environmental Protection in Kokasul along the Envira river in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: An Ashaninka Indian holds a shotgun cartridge he found on the grounds of the former government base called the Envira Front of Ethno-environmental Protection along the Envira river in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Ashaninka Indians eat a meal at their home in the village of Kokasul along the Envira river in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: An Ashaninka Indian stands next to fresh footprints he found on the grounds of the former government base called the Envira Front of Ethno-environmental Protection along the Envira river in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Ashaninka Indians pose for a photograph in the village of Kokasul along the Envira river in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: A view from inside a river boat on the Envira river near the Huni Kui tribe’s village of Me Txanava in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Ashaninka Indians pose for a photograph in the village of Kokasul along the Envira river in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state, March 16, 2014. Many indigenous groups, including the Huni Kui, Ashaninka, and Madija, live in villages in the Brazilian rainforest near the border with Peru. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: A ceramic flute made by uncontacted Indians sits on a table after it was found by Cacique Omina of the Madija tribe, in the village called Igarape do Anjo in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: An Ashaninka Indian named Uarenco kneels over the grave of his niece who his family buried along the banks of the Envira river two weeks earlier when she died as they navigated the river in search of medical help for her diarrhoea, in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Binai, son of Cacique Omina of the Madija tribe, plays a ceramic flute made by uncontacted Indians which his father found and gave to him, in Igarape do Anjo in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: A view of an area of deforested jungle inside the Ashaninka Indian territory in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Ashaninka Indian cacique (chief) Txate observes his tribe’s territory from a plane window in Brazil’s northwestern Acre state. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Indians who are considered uncontacted by anthropologists react to a plane flying over their community in the Amazon basin near the Xinane river in Brazil’s Acre State, near the border with Peru. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Indians who are considered uncontacted by anthropologists react to a plane flying over their community in the Amazon basin near the Xinane river in Brazil’s Acre State, near the border with Peru. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

: Indians who are considered uncontacted by anthropologists react to a plane flying over their community in the Amazon basin near the Xinane river in Brazil’s Acre State, near the border with Peru. (REUTERS/Lunae Parracho)

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