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A Brazilian Government expedition to some of the remotest areas of the Amazon has found evidence of a number of uncontacted indigenous groups in danger of extinction from illegal miners, loggers and hunters.
The expedition aimed not to make contact with the Indians, but rather to map out the areas of their territory to provide them with better protection in the future.
No one knows how many indigenous peoples there are in the Amazon who have not yet been contacted.
At least 17 settlements have been positively identified through aerial reconnaissance and there is evidence that there may be several dozen more.
Precarious situation
The expedition by the Brazilian National Indian Foundation (Funai) close to the border with Peru was designed to try to check the territories used by different Indian groups.
The head of the expedition, Sydney Possuelo, said the situation of the remaining isolated groups is extremely precarious, because they are in constant conflict with miners, loggers and hunters.
 The expedition is mapping out the tribes' territory |
Sydney Possuelo said the first priority after the expedition would be to set up a small unit to try to give more permanent protection to the area from loggers and miners.
The expedition also came across a small Indian group, the Djapas, who recently gave up the struggle to survive alone in the forest.
They now live on the borders of another Indian village where they work as hunters and farmers in return for western clothes and other goods.
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