For the first time ever, a tribe indigenous to the forests on the border of Brazil and Peru has been photographed. The photos were taken by aircraft, and the native people are shown firing arrows at the plane. The expedition was led by José Carlos dos Reis Meirelles, Jr., an expert on native affairs in Brazil. Though the number of native people seems strong, Meirelles has a warning against those that would destroy the ecosystem the tribe resides in. From the UK’s Daily Mail:

Logging is driving uncontacted tribes over the border and could lead to conflict with the estimated five hundred uncontacted Indians already living on the Brazilian side.

‘What is happening in this region [of Peru] is a monumental crime against the natural world, the tribes, the fauna and is further testimony to the complete irrationality with which we, the ‘civilised’ ones, treat the world,’ said Meirelles.

Definitely and look at the astounding photos. Also, you can to learn what one group in England is doing to protect these people and their homeland. And you can here to learn about a group that is doing it’s best to reverse the effects of logging in Brazil.

Taking another look at those photos, and it’s clear that the members of these tribes are pretty anti-photography. Do you think they don’t like having their pictures taken? Though I guess I would have to answer that question with another question. How many abodigitals do you see modeling?

But seriously, the article says that they probably had never seen an airplane before, and thought they were battling a large bird or spirit of some sort. During the first fly-over, the natives were not painted, and when the plane came back for the photos, the people had donned the body paint you see in the photos. But it’s impossible to say for sure, because (thankfully) no one is trying to contact these people and spoil their serenity.