uncontacted indigenous groups

Two or three weeks ago, newspapers around the world showed photos of an indigenous community located in the Brazilian state of Acre not far from Peru. Apparently the group had never been contacted by the majority culture (unless you count flying over their village as contact), and the hostility shown by at least two of the men from the community - their bodies painted, they were pointing arrows at the plane - lived up to our stereotypes in a picturesque fashion.

The issues, of course, are complex, if we think about what it means deliberately not to make contact with a community - and ask, also, just why these pictures were released at this time. Possibly the intent was to draw attention to illegal logging in the area, especially in Peru, which might have driven this group over the border into Acre. Certainly it is hard to see their way of life continuing unchanged once the road we're studying is complete. Some of these issues are introduced in an article from the New York Times that you might like to read if you haven't seen the story elsewhere.