Survival International took this (and other) picture(s) to prove the existence of isolated tribes in Brazil and Peru. The group claims these tribes' lands are being threatened, and thus the peoples, by a logging industry out of control. You can clearly see the tribesmen aiming bows and arrows at the plane as it flew overhead to capture these images.A spokesman for the group said the pictures were necessary because some people refuse to believe the tribes exist. However, more than half the world's 100 or so uncontacted tribes reside in the same general area. Direct contact is reckless for many reasons, not least of which being that tribesmen have no immunity to or tolerance for illnesses such as... the common cold!
I honestly did not know that there were still uncontacted tribes in the world. Call me stupid if you like, but I thought that Aboriginal tribe they gave all those watches and T-shirts to back in the '50s pretty well handled that whole part of Sociology? (Is that Sociology, or what would that be? I don't even know that!) Of course, now that I do, I absolutely believe we should do what we can to preserve them and their way of life.
And, if we're going to be truthful, I am not sure how the whole "natural fibers" bit works out in the environmentally-friendly philosophy. To my way of thinking, why would you cut down a tree in order to be "green" when you can use a suitable synthetic as raw material for whatever it is you want to manufacture? I understand that the synthetic material may take longer to decompose, but I think the ingenuity necessary here is in finding better, more effective, means of waste disposal.
I am not sure how much more of this story we'll get, but I will stick with it as best I can.
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
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