Here's a link to the recently publicized but still uncontacted tribe in Brazil:
AP: Brazil says uncontacted Amazon tribe threatened
There are a few pictures too. I brought up the topic in an English Corner (a "class" with no particular topic, just free talk or play games or whatever) and decided to put the students into groups of 3 (5 groups) and have them discuss what their team would do if they were in charge of deciding if the tribe should be contacted or not; how much; in what ways; etc...
Here are some answers. The students are all adults. Some answers are serious; some got a little funny.
- impose VERY STRICT laws that no one can go near them or affect them in any way, and be sure to harshly punish anyone who does
- choose an area around them to "rope off" as a protected area and protect them... like pandas (laughter ensued)
- Yes, and we can build a high-up train car around their huts so we can all go sightseeing and watch them in their daily lives (more laughter)
- divide them into two groups. One group: leave them be. The other group: we study and do research on them. (a few gasps of horror, "that's like they're not humans!")
- only contact them enough to ask what they want; they should have free choice
- don't publish pictures like they did; don't put them on TV; the gov't should protect them by NOT telling everyone they're there, maybe even lying about their location when asked. This way no individual curious people/groups will bother them
- watch them from afar by camera to study them
- no, no, they should have the right to privacy!
- the scientists should stay in their labs!
--- it seemed ALL were in favor of protecting them so that they could continue their way of life OR choose for themselves. Many said that "culture" is disappearing in so many ways nowadays, we should try to protect people's cultures whenever we have the chance, keeping variety in the world.
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Funny to read this again in light of the Xinjiang riots... the small sampling of Chinese people I had in class almost all said we should preserve culture by leaving the tribal people alone or just gently offering them choices. But look at Tibet & Xinjiang... I know, just like any other country; the people's general feelings do NOT often reflect the actions of the government, but I recall many Chinese students also having the opinion that the Tibetans & Uighurs, etc, should assimilate more.
Hmm.
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