First Look: Rare Photographs Unveil an Isolated Amazon Tribe

Incredible photographs captured by remote cameras in the Brazilian rainforest showcase a secluded community that seems to be flourishing in spite of threats from ranchers and unlawful encroachment within the Amazon.

The images, depicting a group of men, provide the outside world its initial insight into the community – and further suggest that its numbers are increasing. The group is referred to as the Massaco, named after the river that flows through their territory, yet their self-identification remains unknown, along with their language, social structure, and beliefs, which are still enigmatic.

In spite of constant pressure from agribusiness, logging operations, mining ventures, and drug trafficking, the Massaco population has at least doubled since the early 1990s – growing to an estimated 200 to 250 individuals – as reported by the Brazilian National Indigenous Peoples Foundation (Funai), which has been engaged for decades in safeguarding their territory. Funai has positioned the cameras at a location where it regularly leaves metal tools as offerings, a practice aimed at discouraging uncontacted individuals from entering farms or logging sites to obtain implements – a scenario that has previously led to tragic outcomes. Images of Massaco settlements have been documented before during Funai missions in regions confirmed by satellite imagery as having been deserted.

Years of such indirect surveillance indicated that the Massaco are known to hunt using bows that measure three meters in length and to relocate their villages with the changing seasons within the forest. They deter outsiders by strategically placing thousands of foot and tyre-piercing spikes in the ground.

“Currently, with these detailed images, it’s feasible to observe the similarities with the Sirionó people, residing on the opposite shore of the Guaporé River in Bolivia,” comments Altair Algayer, a government representative with Funai who has dedicated over thirty years to preserving the Massaco’s territory. “However, we still cannot determine their true identity. Much remains unknown.”

Notwithstanding the demographic disaster faced by Indigenous populations due to centuries of non-Indigenous settlement and escalating environmental destruction, growth in numbers among isolated tribes reflects a broader trend across the Amazon. In 2023, the journal Nature disclosed that populations are on the rise along Brazil’s frontiers with Peru and Venezuela. Satellite imagery indicated larger agricultural plots and increased longhouses.

Experts have also reported similar growth in nomadic groups that do not cultivate crops or create large structures that can be seen from above. One such community is the Pardo River Kawahiva, which is monitored for Funai by Jair Candor, located in the state of Mato Grosso. “Today, we estimate there are around 35-40 individuals. When our operations commenced here in 1999, there were about 20,” Candor stated.

This deviation from a global tendency of cultural diminishment and vanishing languages has been achieved through progressive public policy that prioritizes non-contact – a strategy initiated by Brazil in 1987 after decades of government-facilitated contact resulted in the death of over 90% of those contacted, primarily due to disease. Since that time, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia have introduced variants of this strategy.

Currently, there are 61 verified groups residing in the Amazon and Gran Chaco region, with a further 128 not yet authenticated by officials, according to a preliminary report from the International Working Group of Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact. Antenor Vaz, the report’s author, was among the first to practice non-contact with the Massaco in 1988. He noted that Brazil has excelled in establishing optimal practices in this domain yet lacks specific legislation safeguarding isolated populations.

“Peru and Colombia possess substantial legal frameworks,” remarked Vaz. “In Brazil and other regions of the continent, the overwhelming force of agribusiness and other exploitative entities is overshadowing laws and Indigenous rights.”

Adjacent Indigenous groups are contributing to the safeguarding of their more secluded counterparts. Notable examples include the Manchineri along the Peru-Brazil frontier in Acre state, the Amondawa in Rondônia, and the Guajarara at the basin’s opposite end in the eastern state of Maranhão.

In the Javari valley—home to 10 confirmed uncontacted communities, the highest number in any Amazonian Indigenous land—Beto Marubo, a representative of the Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Javari valley, along with local leaders, established a patrol team in 2021, which secured the UN Equator Prize. Additionally, Indigenous-led legal initiatives have also advanced the cause.

Nonetheless, honoring the land rights of isolated peoples, as mandated by Brazil’s constitution, and placing logging, gold mining, fishing, soybean, and coca cultivation off-limits necessitates proving the existence of these groups. Marubo remarked that the initial argument for those keen on seizing forest areas is to dispute the presence of inhabitants. “The primary tactic for intruders and anyone with interests in the territories where isolated peoples reside is to assert they do not exist.”

Funai operates with chronically inadequate funding and a limited team of unarmed field personnel. They encounter dangers including credible death threats, such as those targeting Bruno Pereira, who was murdered in 2022, along with journalist Dom Phillips. While some isolated communities are flourishing, others are declining in territories overrun by outsiders.

“These communities possess the right to exist, to their land, and to their chosen ways of life, but acknowledging the rights of isolated Indigenous peoples is also crucial for the conservation of tropical forests,” stated Paulo Moutinho, co-founder of the Institute for Environmental Research in the Amazon.