Isolated tribe spotted in Brazil

It’s really amazing that in the 21st century tribes like this can still exist. But government officials in Brazil say that this tribe is legitimate, and that they are one of a few dozen primitive tribes believed to be living along the Brazil/Peru border. These tribes have never been in contact with outsiders.

The footage, shot from an airplane, shows several men, their bodies painted (red, brown and one solid black) coming out of thatch huts. They seem upset by the plane and several try to shoot arrows at it.

Brazil released the footage of the tribe to prove that isolated tribes like these do still exist. They are increasingly at risk from illegal logging operations in the Amazonian basin. In the past isolated tribes have not fared well after contact with outsiders. They often have no resistance to diseases brought by outsiders; even a common cold can be fatal.

Survival International - a group that supports primitive tribal cultures worldwide - estimates that only about 100 tribes like these still exist, about half are believed to be in the Amazon basin.