Astonishing photographs captured from deep within the Brazilian rainforest show an uncontacted Amazon tribe for the first time, it has emerged.
The images, taken on automatic cameras, appear to show the Massaco tribe arming themselves with machetes and axes that were left behind by the Brazilian National Indigenous Peoples Foundation (Funai).
Funai has spent decades working to preserve the area and ‘periodically’ leaves behind metal implements in a bid to deter uncontacted communities from venturing into farms or logging camps in search of tools, The Guardian reported.
The government body refers to the tribe as the Massaco after the river that runs through their lands, but it is unknown exactly how the tribe refers to themselves.
The group’s language, beliefs and social structure also remain a mystery, but the new photographs show the community appears to be thriving.
Despite constant pressure from miners, ranchers, drug traffickers, and illegal encroachment, the Massaco population has at least doubled since 1990s, with Funai estimating the community now has 200 to 250 people.
There are 61 confirmed groups living in the Amazon and the Gran Chaco region, a draft report by the International Working Group on Isolation and First Contact with Indigenous Peoples revealed.
However, experts say there are a reported 128 communities in the region that have not yet been verified by authorities.
Astonishing photographs captured from deep within the Brazilian rainforest show an uncontacted Amazon tribe, known as the Massaco, for the first time
The images, taken on automatic cameras, appear to show the Massaco tribe arming themselves with machetes and axes that were left behind by the Brazilian National Indigenous Peoples Foundation (Funai)
Funai has spent decades working to preserve Massaco territory and ‘periodically’ leaves behind metal implements in a bid to deter uncontacted communities from venturing into farms or logging camps in search of tools
Funai placed automatic cameras in the Amazon at locations where tools are typically left behind as gifts for the uncontacted locals, the report states.
In February this year, the cameras captured a group of men, believed to be Massaco, collecting weapons left by Funai agents.
Previous observation and satellite photographs of Massaco settlements revealed that the group has started adapting to protect itself from outside threats.
They have tried to deter unwelcome visitors planting thousands of camouflaged foot and tyre-piercing solid wood spikes in the ground.
It was also revealed that the tribe hunts for food using three-meter-long bows and relocates their villages from season to season.
Funai agent Altair Algayer, who has spent more than 30 years protecting Massaco territory, said the new images has helped authorities learn more about the tribe.
‘Now, with the detailed photographs, it’s possible to see the resemblance to the Sirionó people, who live on the opposite bank of the Guaporé River, in Bolivia,’ he said. ‘But still, we can’t say who they are. There’s a lot that’s still a mystery.’
Funai placed automatic cameras in the Amazon at locations where tools are typically left behind as gifts for the uncontacted locals, the report states. In February this year, the cameras captured a group of men, believed to be Massaco, collecting weapons left by Funai agents
Satellite images showed evidence of larger cultivated plots and expanded longhouses, especially in areas along Brazil’s borders with Peru and Venezuela
The Massaco appear to have stacked animal skulls onto poles, which they seemingly display near their territory in the Amazon
Despite constant pressure from miners, ranchers, drug traffickers, and illegal encroachment, the Massaco population has at least doubled since 1990s, with Funai estimating the community now has 200 to 250 people
Previous observation and satellite photographs of Massaco settlements revealed that the group has started adapting to protect itself from outside threats. They have tried to deter unwelcome visitors planting thousands of camouflaged foot and tyre-piercing solid wood spikes in the ground
The Massaco tribe hunts for food using three-meter-long bows and relocates their villages from season to season
According to experts, the growth of the Massaco signals a trend of population growth among isolated people, despite pressures of environmental devastation.
Satellite images from 2023 showed evidence of larger cultivated plots and expanded longhouses, especially in areas along Brazil’s borders with Peru and Venezuela, the science journal Nature reported.
There is also evidence of growth amongst nomadic communities that do not build large structures in the forest or plant crops.
Despite these successes, researchers warn that illegal land grabs and environmental devastation continues to threaten isolated communities in the Amazon.
Brazil in 1987 pioneered a public policy of not initiating contact with indigenous after decades of government-led contact resulted in the death, mostly from disease, of 90 per cent of those contacted
Antenor Vaz, who was among the first to implement no-contact in Massaco in 1988, praised Brazil for developing best practices in the field but added that the country has no law specifically protecting isolated peoples.
He said: ‘Peru and Colombia have robust legislation, in Brazil and other parts of the continent, the steamroller of agribusiness and other predatory forces are prevailing over laws and Indigenous rights.’
Pictured are hammocks that were found in Massaco huts
Pictured is a suspected Massaco community found in the Brazilian rainforest
According to experts, the growth of the Massaco signals a trend of population growth among isolated people, despite pressures of environmental devastation
This is a stone instrument that researchers found at a suspected Massaco settlement
Pictured is a stone weapon found at a suspected Massaco settlement
A wooden log apparently hollowed out is found in a suspected Massaco community