Government finds evidence of uncontacted tribes
July 22, 2008
This page was created in 2008 and may contain language which is now outdated.
Evidence of an uncontacted tribe living in the remote Peruvian Amazon has been found by the Peruvian government’s natural resources department, INRENA.
The evidence consists of a number of uncontacted Indians’ shelters along a riverbank deep in the Alto Purus National Park, in the south-east of Peru. The shelters are made of palm leaves and were found by park guards working for INRENA.
INRENA has refused to publicise the exact location of the shelters in order to ‘protect the Indians’ environment.’
The finding comes after recent claims from Peruvian authorities that there are no uncontacted tribes in Peru. The president, Alan García, stated that the ‘unconnected’ tribes had been ‘invented’ by people opposed to oil exploration in the Peruvian jungle, while a spokesperson from Perupetro compared uncontacted Indians to the Loch Ness monster.
To read INRENA's statement (in Spanish) and to see a photo of the recently-discovered shelters, click here.
