Astonishing photographs show uncontacted Amazon tribe for the first time - and the ingenious technique they have used to protect themselves from the outside world
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Astonishing photographs captured from deep within the Brazilian rainforest show an uncontacted Amazon tribe for the first time, it has emerged. The images, taken on automatic cameras, appear to show the Massaco tribe arming themselves with machetes and axes that were left behind by the Brazilian National Indigenous Peoples Foundation (Funai).
![[The images, taken on automatic cameras, appear to show the Massaco tribe arming themselves with machetes and axes that were left behind by the Brazilian National Indigenous Peoples Foundation (Funai)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/17/93433801-14221917-The_images_taken_on_automatic_cameras_appear_to_show_the_Massaco-m-76_1734973271485.jpg)
Funai has spent decades working to preserve the area and 'periodically' leaves behind metal implements in a bid to deter uncontacted communities from venturing into farms or logging camps in search of tools, The Guardian reported. The government body refers to the tribe as the Massaco after the river that runs through their lands, but it is unknown exactly how the tribe refers to themselves.
![[Funai has spent decades working to preserve Massaco territory and 'periodically' leaves behind metal implements in a bid to deter uncontacted communities from venturing into farms or logging camps in search of tools]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/17/93433785-14221917-Funai_has_spent_decades_working_to_preserve_Massaco_territory_an-m-77_1734973326331.jpg)
The group's language, beliefs and social structure also remain a mystery, but the new photographs show the community appears to be thriving. Despite constant pressure from miners, ranchers, drug traffickers, and illegal encroachment, the Massaco population has at least doubled since 1990s, with Funai estimating the community now has 200 to 250 people.
![[Funai placed automatic cameras in the Amazon at locations where tools are typically left behind as gifts for the uncontacted locals, the report states. In February this year, the cameras captured a group of men, believed to be Massaco, collecting weapons left by Funai agents]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/17/93433753-14221917-image-m-82_1734973501925.jpg)
There are 61 confirmed groups living in the Amazon and the Gran Chaco region, a draft report by the International Working Group on Isolation and First Contact with Indigenous Peoples revealed. However, experts say there are a reported 128 communities in the region that have not yet been verified by authorities.
![[Satellite images showed evidence of larger cultivated plots and expanded longhouses, especially in areas along Brazil's borders with Peru and Venezuela]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/17/93433921-14221917-image-a-80_1734973365023.jpg)
