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The resident Tomas Anez Dos Santos was laboring in a modest glade far in the of Peru rainforest when he noticed footsteps coming closer through the thick forest.

It dawned on him that he stood hemmed in, and halted.

“One positioned, directing with an projectile,” he recalls. “And somehow he became aware of my presence and I began to escape.”

He ended up encountering members of the Mashco Piro. For decades, Tomas—residing in the tiny village of Nueva Oceania—served as practically a local to these itinerant tribe, who avoid engagement with foreigners.

An updated report by a rights organization states exist at least 196 described as “remote communities” in existence worldwide. The Mashco Piro is thought to be the largest. The study claims 50% of these groups could be decimated over the coming ten years if governments fail to take additional to protect them.

It argues the most significant dangers come from deforestation, digging or operations for petroleum. Isolated tribes are extremely at risk to common illness—as such, it notes a risk is presented by exposure with evangelical missionaries and online personalities seeking attention.

In recent times, Mashco Piro people have been coming to Nueva Oceania increasingly, as reported by inhabitants.

Nueva Oceania is a angling village of a handful of clans, perched high on the shores of the Tauhamanu River deep within the of Peru Amazon, a ten-hour journey from the nearest village by boat.

The area is not designated as a preserved reserve for isolated tribes, and deforestation operations operate here.

Tomas says that, on occasion, the sound of logging machinery can be noticed day and night, and the tribe members are witnessing their forest damaged and ruined.

Within the village, inhabitants state they are divided. They are afraid of the tribal weapons but they also have strong admiration for their “brothers” residing in the jungle and wish to defend them.

“Let them live as they live, we are unable to change their culture. For this reason we preserve our distance,” explains Tomas.

Residents in Nueva Oceania are anxious about the damage to the community's way of life, the danger of conflict and the possibility that timber workers might subject the community to diseases they have no immunity to.

During a visit in the community, the tribe appeared again. Letitia Rodriguez Lopez, a woman with a toddler daughter, was in the jungle collecting fruit when she noticed them.

“We heard calls, cries from people, numerous of them. Like it was a whole group calling out,” she informed us.

It was the first time she had met the Mashco Piro and she fled. Subsequently, her mind was continually racing from anxiety.

“Because operate deforestation crews and operations destroying the jungle they are fleeing, maybe due to terror and they arrive in proximity to us,” she said. “We are uncertain what their response may be to us. That is the thing that frightens me.”

In 2022, two individuals were confronted by the tribe while catching fish. A single person was struck by an projectile to the stomach. He recovered, but the other person was found deceased after several days with several arrow wounds in his physique.

The administration follows a policy of no engagement with isolated people, establishing it as prohibited to commence interactions with them.

This approach began in Brazil following many years of advocacy by tribal advocacy organizations, who noted that first exposure with remote tribes resulted to entire groups being decimated by illness, hardship and hunger.

In the 1980s, when the Nahau community in Peru first encountered with the world outside, a significant portion of their people died within a few years. In the 1990s, the Muruhanua community experienced the similar destiny.

“Secluded communities are very susceptible—in terms of health, any contact could transmit diseases, and including the basic infections could eliminate them,” explains Issrail Aquisse from a local advocacy organization. “Culturally too, any contact or disruption can be extremely detrimental to their life and health as a group.”

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