Latest News

  • Home
  • Global
  • Uncontacted Tribe in The Amazon Reportedly Massacred by Illegal Gold Miners
Uncontacted Tribe in The Amazon Reportedly Massacred by Illegal Gold Miners
Thursday, September 14, 2017 IST
Uncontacted Tribe in The Amazon Reportedly Massacred by Illegal Gold Miners

 
Prosecutors in Brazil are investigating reports that illegal gold miners allegedly massacred up to 10 members of a remote, uncontacted tribe in the Brazilian Amazon.
 
The alleged attack, which is said to have taken place last month, occurred along the River Jandiatuba in western Brazil, and may have gone forever unnoticed by the outside world, were it not for the the miners being overheard boasting about the killings in a nearby town afterwards.
 
"It was crude bar talk," Leila Silvia Burger Sotto-Maior, a coordinator for Brazil's indigenous affairs agency, FUNAI, told The New York Times.
 
"They even bragged about cutting up the bodies and throwing them in the river."
 
Two of the gold miners – known as garimpeiros – have been arrested and taken to the city of Tabatinga to provide testimony about the incident, which, if confirmed, is feared to have wiped out one-fifth of the entire tribe, including women and children.
 
The Amazon region where the massacre is said to have happened is called the Javari Valley (aka the Uncontacted Frontier), bordered by Peru, Brazil, and Bolivia.
 
This area is thought to contain more uncontacted tribes than anywhere else on the planet, with an estimated 2,000 individuals across up to 20 isolated groups.
 
This tribe is known locally as Fleicheros, or "the ones who throw arrows", but as they're an isolated people with little or no contact with the outside world, not an awful lot is actually recorded about them – something which makes attacks like this hard to investigate.

 
 

 
"We are following up, but the territories are big and access is limited," the prosecutor in charge of the case, Pablo Luz de Beltrand, told The New York Times.
 
"These tribes are uncontacted – even FUNAI has only sporadic information about them. So it's difficult work that requires all government departments working together."
 
The region has a history of indigenous peoples being threatened by the illegal encroachment of miners, which commentators say is a direct result of agencies like FUNAI having their funding slashed under the government of the current Brazilian president, Michel Temer.
 
Temer provoked uproar less than a month ago after attempting to abolish protections shielding a vast reserve of Amazon rainforest from mining interests.
 
That move – dubbed "the biggest attack on the Amazon of the last 50 years" – has been temporarily foiled by a federal court, but if the action goes ahead, it could increase the dangers and displacement indigenous peoples in the rainforest are clearly already facing from illegal miners.
 
"If these [massacre] reports are confirmed, President Temer and his government bear a heavy responsibility for this genocidal attack," Stephen Corry, the director of tribal rights organisation Survival, said in a statement.

 
 

 
"The slashing of FUNAI's funds has left dozens of uncontacted tribes defenceless against thousands of invaders – gold miners, ranchers, and loggers – who are desperate to steal and ransack their lands."
 
In this instance, it's unclear whether the evidence will be sufficient to prosecute the alleged killers.
 
An audio recording of the boasting in a bar does exist, however, and the miners are reported to have collected tools and jewellery from the victims, which could corroborate the prosecution's case.
 
Whether those items alone will be enough to punish this alleged horror is unknown, but it's clear that more grave injustices could occur if the sanctity of these isolated people's lands isn't defended by modern forces surrounding them.
 
"All these tribes should have had their lands properly recognised and protected years ago," Corry said.
 
"[T]he government's open support for those who want to open up indigenous territories is utterly shameful, and is setting indigenous rights in Brazil back decades.

 
 
 
 
 

Related Topics

 
 
 

Trending News & Articles

 Article
'Worse than prison': A rare look inside China's detention camps to 'brainwash' Muslims

ALMATY: Hour upon hour, day upon day, Omir Bekali and other detainees in far western China's new indoctrination camps had to disavow the...

Recently posted . 199K views . 1 min read
 

 Article
What The Shape Of Your Belly Button Says About Your Health

If you have payed attention to the belly buttons of people on the beach or the members of your family, you have probably noticed that they have different shapes and...

Recently posted . 8K views . 2 min read
 

 Article
Top 10 Horrifying Acts of Chemical Warfare and Gas Attacks

In this age of terror, there might be nothing more terrifying than the thought of an attack carried out with chemical weapons. We’ve all heard the horrific ...

Recently posted . 3K views . 4 min read
 

 Article
Top 10 Best Gym Equipment Brands in India 2018

Body fitness is one thing that everyone wants to maintain irrespective of age. Going to the gym and doing some great exercise always helps to maintain your body fit...

Recently posted . 3K views . 2 min read
 

 
 

More in Global

 Article
Rishi Kapoor, why are you so full of yourself?

On Thursday, Rishi Kapoor objected to the presence of journalists at the launch of a book on his late father, Raj Kapoor, in spite of an invitation from the publish...

Recently posted. 778 views . 1 min read
 

 Article
Upset Hindus urge Walmart to withdraw Lord “Ganesh Toe Ring”

Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada, said that Lord Ganesh was highly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshipped in temples or...

Recently posted. 855 views . 2 min read
 

 Article
Biggest Bird Confusion Over. It's Vorombe Titan Of Madagascar, Says Study

Elephant bird from Madagascar Vorombe titan would have stood at least three metres (10 feet) tall, and had an average weight of 650 kilograms, making it the largest...

Recently posted. 890 views . 1 min read
 

 Video
'Life' - A Silent, Smart & Simple Short Film!



Recently posted . 927 views
 

 Reviews
Leaseweb hosting review



Recently posted . 1K views . 67 min read
 

 Article
Prank Goes Wrong! Man Accidentally Cements His Head Inside A Microwave

Fire service officials said it took an hour to free the man after they were called to a house in Wolverhampton city, reports the BBC.   ...

Recently posted. 670 views . 1 min read
 

 Article
The Right and Wrong Reasons to Get Married

Don't get married for the wrong reasons!

Recently posted. 767 views . 0 min read
 

 
 
 

   Prashnavali

  Thought of the Day

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."
Steve Jobs

Be the first one to comment on this story

Close
Post Comment
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST


ads
Back To Top