Undiscovered Amazon Tribe Found
 

RIO DE JANEIRO - Amazon Indians from one of the world's last uncontacted tribes have been photographed from the air, with striking images released on Thursday showing them painted bright red and brandishing bows and arrows.

The photographs of the tribe near the border between Brazil and Peru are rare evidence that such groups exist. A Brazilian official involved in the expedition said many of them are in increasing danger from illegal logging.

"What is happening in this region is a monumental crime against the natural world, the tribes, the fauna and is further testimony to the complete irrationality with which we, the 'civilized' ones, treat the world," Jose Carlos Meirelles was quoted as saying in a statement by the Survival International group.

One of the pictures, which can be seen on Survival International's Web site (www.survival-international.org), shows two Indian men covered in bright red pigment poised to fire arrows at the aircraft while another Indian looks on.

Another photo shows about 15 Indians near thatched huts, some of them also preparing to fire arrows at the aircraft.

"The world needs to wake up to this, and ensure that their territory is protected in accordance with international law. Otherwise, they will soon be made extinct," said Stephen Corry, the director of Survival International, which supports tribal people around the world.

Of more than 100 uncontacted tribes worldwide, more than half live in either Brazil or Peru, Survival International says. It says all are in grave d.anger of being forced off their land, killed and ravaged by new diseases.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24880941/?GT1=43001

So, whadda think about this?

Came off a bit condescending. This group of humans is its own endangered species now? Their survival is a lot less threatened than that of a homeless man in New York City, and the hobo is less likely to shoot you on sight.

However, I do think that finding a tribe of indigenous people that haven't been encountered by the outside world in the entirety of recorded history is pretty neat. I just rather wish that the article hadn't basically made them out to be a lower life form threatened with extinction by man's lust for rainforest killing.

What I guess I'd like to know is the morality behind contacting these fellows. I'm really on the fence, but I think it's the most interesting debate.

And, while I too felt the article was condescending as all hell, it's not them as human beings like you and me but them as a culture that they're worried about, or at least that's what I'd think about in the same situation. Of course, that argument can go to hell if we don't contact them cause what use is it to preserve their culture if we don't know any of it? Which in itself requires a contradiction, as to study their culture will almost certainly require contact. Not that it's going to stay the same now, I mean, lord knows what'll happen now that they saw a giant loud THING go through their sky. Was it a god, a demon, an omen, etc...

[/rant]

Anyways, I think you get the point.

People are people. For better or worse, these need to either be incorporated into our world somehow (slowly over a generation, if possible) or they will quickly be rendered "extinct" as soon as somebody with guns decide that they'd really like to start chopping down trees where those annoying guys with bows and arrows hang out. If they refuse to cooperate they're doomed since EVENTUALLY somebody is going to 'disturb' them and then, well...

Stupid rant below:

I don't really think it was necessary to call him a Nazi because he said that survival of the fittest is something that happens in nature.

In the interest of not derailing the thread I am going to say that I am not going to get into this here and if you or anyone wants to discuss the subject of my judgment as moderator then either PM me or do a thread for it in Forum Related Stuff.

If you do the thread thing then go ahead and say it was me who said to go on and do that so's there's no confusion as to what's going on.

He also said that its perfectly okay for the stronger entity to take whatever he/she likes for the weaker entity by virtue of strength being the accomodating factor, therefore its perfectly acceptable for some group to go in and steal all the land from the tribe. That is a pretty Nazi-ish position to take, and comparing it to the Nazi platform isn't entirely unjustified.

It would have been nice if all the world developed at similar rates, because the minute a stronger country comes into the picture, the whole natural state of development of somewhat screwed. It is unnatural, because we're not looking at an organism to organism comparison here, we're looking at a society to society comparison. You want to talk about survival of the fittest, fine. But the fact remains that human society is an anomaly in the world, so its ludicrous to apply laws of nature to it simply because nothing comparable exists in nature.

Thomas Maltheus had his model of social development worked out, and really it only applied to the first few countries that went through it. Now those developed countries have completely messed up the development of earlier-staged socities, hampering them or forcing them into development limbo. The same thing would happen here, giving an unnatural development to what is supposed to happen.

The Prime Directive in Star Trek has a point (yes, I'm a nerd, I know). If you interfere with less developed societies, you risk destroying that society. This Amazon Tribe clearly isn't ready to be integrated. Maybe in a few centuries they'll be a little more advanced, maybe they won't, but its not our right to dictate whether or not they should be thrust into our world.

They've lived the way they live for... well, forever. They won't be joining society by virtue of their own technological prowess.

Pretty sure we just blew their minds by flying a plane over their heads. I think we should make ourselves known to them, let them know we are not gods, and give them a choice: enter modern society or don't.

I want to know how we could communicate with them. I assume they have their own language, and don't know any others.