Why the survival of uncontacted Indigenous peoples is under growing threat

Uncontacted Indigenous tribes are threatened by growing contact from missionaries, miners, criminal gangs and social media influencers according to Survival International.

Uncontacted Indigenous tribes are “at the edge of survival,” as growing contact by missionaries, miners, criminal gangs and social media influencers spreads diseases and wipes out forests, according to a landmark new report.

At least 196 of these groups remain, half of whom could be wiped out in under a decade, according to the report released Sunday by Survival International, a London-based Indigenous rights organization, which attempted one of the most comprehensive tallies yet of some of the world’s most isolated people.

These communities, most of whom reside in the Amazon Basin — with Brazil accounting for 124 of the 196 — are self-sufficient and resilient, living independently and consciously avoiding contact, Survival said in its report.

Some of the groups also live in the Asia-Pacific, including two in India and four in Indonesia, where they hunt, gather, fish, and build everything they need for their sustenance, from homes to medicines.

“They are the experts on their forests — drawing everything they need entirely from their environment,” Survival said in its research.