‘Uncontacted’ tribe appears in Peru and violent confrontation only narrowly avoided

Members of an Indian tribe that have long lived in voluntary isolation in Peru’s south-eastern Amazon have attempted to make contact with outsiders for a second time since 2011, leading to a tense standoff at a river hamlet.

Authorities are unsure what provoked the three-day encounter but say the Mashco-Piro may be upset by illegal logging in their territory as well as drug smugglers who pass through, while oil and gas exploration also affects the region.

The more than 100 members of the clan appeared across the Las Piedras river from the remote community of Monte Salvado in the Tambopata region of Madre de Dios state at the end of June, said Klaus Quicque, president of the regional Fenamad indigenous federation

They asked for bananas, rope and machetes from the local Yine people but were dissuaded from crossing the river by Fenamad rangers posted at the settlement, said Mr Quicque, who directed them to a banana patch on their side of the river. Continue reading