Transcript

Let Uncontacted Tribes Live | Sarah Shenker | TEDxWarwick

[Music] I've spent time with many indigenous peoples in the Amazon rainforest on a visit to one Community early one morning a family invited me to go on a short walk with them to their hunting area it's not far they told me it's just over there the short walk turned out to be a six-hour hike at tribal pace which is fast just before midday drenched from the heavy rain we arrived at a beautiful patch of forest the family know like the back of their hand once we'd collected some fruit and found a good spot for some fishing Peter E the father of the family and the community leader started to tell me about his uncontacted relatives they live deep in the forest avoiding contact with outside ERS their nomadic hunter gatherers always on the Move Hunting Fishing and collecting fruits and honey let them live P said we must let them live in our interconnected World some find it hard to believe but yes they exist more than a 100 uncontacted tribes around the world from the Amazon rainforest to the Arid Plains of Paraguay's chako region to the anderman islands in the Indian Ocean and the remote forests of West Papa I believe in a world where uncontacted tribes are allowed to survive and thrive there are contemporaries and a vitally important part of humankind's diversity they know their environments intimately every Valley Stream and Trail is inscribed on their mental map over thousands of years they've developed ways of life which are entirely self-sufficient and extraordinarily diverse AWA Indians in the Brazilian Amazon for example have shown me how their uncontacted relatives use the resin of the masar andry to make fire to light their houses and to hunt at night uncontacted kawahiva Indians build intricate ladders up trees to collect honey from bees nests and they make traps to catch fish in the streams by their camps One uncontracted Man known as the man of the hole digs deep pits in which he places sharp spikes to capture large prey uncontacted tribes have an acute understanding of their environments and unique solutions to sustainable living many of the drugs used in Western medicine like morphine originate with tribal people uncontacted tribes contacted relatives have shared some of that knowledge with the world and it saved millions of lives and uncontacted tribes are the best guardians of their of their environments evidence proves that their territories are by far the strongest barriers to deforestation look at satellite imagery of the Amazon and you'll find time and again the uncontacted tribes territories are islands of green amid Seas of deforestation the best way to prevent the destruction of the amazan rainforest is to campaign for the land rights of uncontracted tribes they depend on their land and their land depends on them their respect for their land and their deep connection to it can be seen in their religious and shamanic rituals and in their everyday lives they take only what they need from their Forest they move their crops from one area to another to allow the soil to replenish and they carefully control their hunting zones so that animal numbers remain healthy yanami shman and leader Davi kopenawa known as the dalil Lama of the rainforest asked why is it taking so long to believe that if we hurt nature we hurt ourselves we're not watching the World from outside we're not separate from it and indeed in many places uncontacted tribes coexist with nature at an extraordinary level take this uncontacted community in the heart of the Amazon uncontacted Frontier a large region strling the Peru Brazil border home to more uncontacted tribes than anywhere else on Earth we can see a healthy thriving Community with baskets full of papaya and manoc fresh from their Gardens their bodies are painted red and black with paints they make from anato seeds and the fruit of the Jenny Papa tree and they have metal pots and knives which they've probably obtained through intertribal trading here and elsewhere uncontacted Indians Point arrows up at passing planes and they leave cross Spears on Forest paths to show that they don't want contact with Outsiders the uncontracted Yanomami Indians on the Brazil Venezuela border also appear to be in good health we can see the Yano their large communal house where each Square section is home to a different family where they hang their hammocks store their food and light fires to keep warm at night contacted Yanomami have told us that they use the central area for feasts and games and that they use over 500 plants for food medicine house building and other artifacts and on the other side of the world on a small island in the Indian Ocean live The uncontracted Sentinel tribe again from a distance they appear to be robust and healthy they hunt and gather in their forests and they fish in the coastal Waters they make narrow canoes which they Propel through the waters with poles they're the most isolated people on Earth but in many places there's a darker story a story of genocide some uncontracted tribes land is being stolen by governments compan companies and individuals Keen to make quick profit from the resources the tribes have so carefully looked after for Millennia their land is being invaded by loggers miners ranchers oil and gas Prospectors Road and Dam construction teams drug traffickers missionaries and others it's nothing new whole tribes were wiped out by the European colonization of the Americas and Australia during the Gold Rush the rubber Boom the Decades of force contact Expeditions up until the late 1980s yet more tribes were wiped out by genocide or violence and other lost up to others lost up to 90% of their population within a year or two and it continues today yet more tribes are being wiped out by genocidal violence at the hands of the Invaders and by diseases like flu and measles to which they have no resistance of course it's illegal uncontacted tribes right to live undisturbed on their land is enshrined in law uncontacted tribes are the most vulnerable peoples on the planet they face catastrophe if their land is not protected yakara and amakara sisters hunter gatherer Nomads of the AWA tribe were forced to make contact with Outsiders in 2014 they'd been uncontacted for decades but more recently they found themselves surrounded by loggers in their forest and they'd caught respiratory diseases which were killing them they found themselves forced to abandon their nomadic lives forced to make contact with their AWA neighbors living in a contacted settled Village when I visited that Village a few months later I was shocked and saddened to find the sisters lying Motionless in their hammocks too weak to eat or speak they were dying of tuberculosis a common killer of recently contacted tribal people I took this photo to show what was happening and to generate pressure in their favor amazingly after thousands of people pushed the Brazilian government to provide Urgent health Care the sisters recovered and soon after they returned to their uncontacted lives in their Forest covering their tracks as they went so that no one could follow them the sister's story strikes me as a great illustration of how many tribal people are so determined to live on their land and how people around the world really can make a difference but it doesn't always end like that in many cases following forced contact the Indians end up dead this man is believed to be the only Survivor of a tribe massacred by ranchers decades ago the photo was taken as government agents approached the man and he backed off refusing contact he lives on his own in a pat of forest and he's known as the last of his tribe when he dies a whole people will be wiped out forever cattle ranchers massacred nearly all the uncontacted akun Su Indians a few decades ago and then they bulldozed their homes to the ground trying to erase all traces of their Village soon after that Force contact only seven akun survived and today they number just four within a few decades they'll be extinct and these are the last of the kawahiva tribe [Music] the footage was filmed by government agents during a chance encounter with the Indians they're completely surrounded by loggers and ranchers in one of the most violent parts of the Amazon attacks and disease have killed their relatives and their genocide will be complete if what remains of their land is not protected but if Brazil's government acts fast they can survive and Indigenous people who've recently come into contact with mainstream Society tell harrowing Tales of attacks some sapana Indians made contact with government agents a few years ago after many of their relatives were killed the this is the moment of first Contact and in the Peruvian Amazon H morawa was shot in the eye during first contact with his people for all we know an uncontacted tribe could be being attacked right now as we speak imagine being complet completely surrounded by people who'd prefer you didn't exist what would you do would you confront the Invaders well aware that they're heavily armed and unafraid to shoot and kill would you succumb and let your world be ripped away from you or would you run and hide fleeing to protect your families and fight for your future I believe in a world where uncontacted tribes are allowed to Survive and Thrive and I hope you do too so why care because uncontacted tribes are a vitally important part of humankind's diversity because just like you and me they have the right to choose how they live because our consumption of wood and Furniture of petrol for cars of gold jewelry is fueling their genocide and in case that's not enough what about the health of our planet how about our future and the future of coming Generations the best Guardians of the most biodiverse places on Earth uncontacted tribes are absolutely vital in our fight against climate change and environmental degradation the solution is clear uphold the law and protect their lands so where do we go from here well we need to act fast the pressure on uncontracted tribes land is intensifying I've seen ranchers call uncontracted Indians dirty and lazy I've heard politicians deny their very existence and I've worked with indigenous leaders who receive death threats simply for speaking out for their uncontacted relatives right to live some say uncontacted tribes are doomed that their disappearance is inevitable that they're backward and primitive relics of a remote past and that we must make contact with them to bring them into the so-called modern world no that simply won't work entering UNC contct to tribes land and forcing contact is fatal fortunately government policies now order the protection of uncontracted tribes land for their exclusive use we must make sure they stick to their word uncontracted tribes are well aware of the existence of the outside world if they want to make contact they can and they will so we must guarantee their live their right to live as they choose it's a right enshrined in National Constitution it's a right enshrined in international law it's a right enshrined by the United Nations and surely it's a right enshrined in human morality I believe in a world where uncontacted tribes are allowed to survive and thrive for almost 50 years survival International has led the global campaign for UNC contacted tribes rights we won't give up until their lands are protected we fight against all ODS and alongside cont Ed Indians we've secured countless successes for uncontacted tribes from the creation of the anami park the largest forested indigenous territory in the world to the eviction of loggers from the AWA indigenous territory to the encouragement of bational government cooperation to tackle this urgent situation the only way to continue to ensure the survival of uncontacted tribes is to catalyze a ground swell of public opinion in their favor you can be the change uncont conted tribes so desperately need let's push companies to reject projects that will harm uncontracted tribes let's encourage the UN and other International bodies to take a more urgent stand let's pressurize governments to protect uncontacted tribes land it works together we really can make a difference we can give the most vulnerable peoples on the planet a chance to survive and thrive as p e so passionately asked we can and we must let them live thank you