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Uncontacted Peoples

Uncontacted Peoples is a global humanitarian organization the only global organisation dedicated exclusively to advocating for the rights of uncontacted tribes worldwide.

Established in 2024, Uncontacted Peoples focuses on protecting the self-determination, land rights, and cultural heritage of uncontacted and isolated communities continuing to leave nomadic or hunter gatherer lifestyles. Campaigns center on amplifying the voices of these marginalized communities and addressing the misconceptions that often lead to human rights violations alongside working with indigenous communities actively mapping indigenous reserves worldwide.

Uncontacted Peoples raises awareness of the harm inflicted upon uncontacted tribes by corporations and governments, with a central focus on fostering self-determination and the preservation of their way of life. To maintain impartiality, Uncontacted Peoples do not accept government funding.

Uncontacted Peoples works across Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Paraguay, the Andaman Islands, Indonesia, and Venezuela with advocate offices in London, Fortaleza and Amsterdam.

Structure and Aims

Uncontacted Peoples operates on three interconnected fronts to advance the rights and well-being of uncontacted tribes: education, advocacy, and research. By connecting with local Indigenous organizations and facilitating dialogue, Uncontacted Peoples aims to empower indigenous communities to communicate the needs surrounding the rights of uncontacted tribes. This approach ensures that their perspectives are heard and respected, without imposing external agendas or solutions and seeks to counter the white saviour narrative.

Uncontacted Peoples utilises collaboration with governments, corporations, and international organizations to advocate for policies and practices that safeguard the land rights, autonomy, and cultural integrity of uncontacted peoples. Through targeted policy change, meaningful action addresses the urgent challenges confronting these vulnerable communities.

Uncontacted Peoples operates as a social enterprise in multiple countries, including the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Brazil, and the United States. Uncontacted Peoples refuses government funding to maintain independence and ensures freedom of action instead, relying on the support of individuals and organizations who share a commitment to protecting the rights of uncontacted tribes.

Uncontacted Peoples prioritizes the involvement and leadership of tribal communities themselves in the management and implementation of initiatives particularly with regards to the mapping and protection of indigenous reserves and communities, recognizing the inherent right to self-determination and autonomy.

Definition

Uncontacted peoples generally refer to indigenous peoples who have remained largely isolated to the present day, maintaining their traditional lifestyles and functioning mostly independently from any political or governmental entities. However, European exploration and colonization during the early modern period brought indigenous peoples worldwide into contact with colonial settlers and explorers. As such, most indigenous groups have had some form of contact with other peoples. The term "uncontacted" therefore refers to a lack of sustained contact with the majority of non-indigenous society at the present time.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights refers to uncontacted peoples as "indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation." These groups are defined by their general rejection of contact with anyone outside of their own people. This definition also includes groups who have previously had sustained contact with the majority non-indigenous society but have chosen to return to isolation and no longer maintain contact. As such uncontacted peoples are understood not as living in an anachronistic state of nature but rather as contemporaries of modernity.

A 2009 United Nations report also classified "peoples in initial contact" as sharing the same characteristics but beginning to regularly communicate with and integrate into mainstream society.

To highlight their agency in staying uncontacted or isolated, international organizations emphasize calling them "indigenous peoples in isolation" or "in voluntary isolation". Otherwise they have also been called "hidden peoples" or "uncontacted tribes".

Historically European colonial ideas of uncontacted peoples, and their colonial claims over them, were informed by the imagination of and search for Prester John, king of a wealthy Christian realm in isolation, as well as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, identifying uncontacted peoples as "lost tribes".

Tribes

South America

Uncontacted Peoples works to safeguard the rights and well-being of uncontacted tribes in countries across South America, where numerous indigenous communities face threats from external contact and encroachment on their ancestral lands.

Brazil

In 2007, FUNAI reported the presence of 67 uncontacted indigenous peoples in Brazil, up from 40 in 2005. Numerous new communities have been identified since this time.

Uncontacted Peoples is actively involved in advocating for the protection of various uncontacted tribes, including the Awá, Kawahiva, Korubu, and others residing in isolated regions of the country. These communities are threatened by illegal logging, mining, and land grabbers, as well as government policies aimed at development in the Amazon.

Columbia

Uncontacted Peoples supports efforts to protect uncontacted indigenous peoples including the Nukak, nomadic hunter-gatherers living between the Guaviare and Inírida rivers in south-east Colombia. The creation of tribal reserves and strict patrolling in Colombia offers significant protection to uncontacted peoples, but challenges persist due to ongoing threats from external forces.

Ecuador

Isolated indigenous peoples include the Tagaeri and the Taromenane, who live in Yasuni National Park. Despite national policies mandating their untouchability and self-determination, these communities face risks from incursions by outsiders, including violent encounters with other indigenous groups.

Paraguay

Uncontacted Peoples advocates for the rights of the Ayoreo. These nomadic peoples face threats from illegal deforestation and land conversion for agriculture and ranching. They are the last known uncontacted community living south of the Amazon basin.

Peru

Uncontacted Peoples supports initiatives to protect uncontacted tribes such as the Mashco-Piro, living in Manú National Park. Despite their expressed desire to remain uncontacted, these communities face risks from land incursions and economic operations in their territories.

Indonesia

New Guinea

At least 40 uncontacted tribes live in the isolated jungles of West Papua region in Indonesia. There is no government agency dedicated to protecting isolated indigenous groups in the region. Uncontacted Peoples works to use remote sensing to map prospective reserves to protect these communities from further encroachment from loggers or oil prospectors.

Andaman Islands

Uncontacted Peoples works to safeguard the way of life of uncontacted peoples on North Sentinel Island and the Nicobar Islands. Reports of further communities living isolated on outlying islands has also extended this work.

Sentinelese

Main article: Sentinelese

The Sentinelese people of North Sentinel Island, which lies near South Andaman Island in the Bay of Bengal, reject contact. Attempts to contact them have usually been rebuffed, sometimes with lethal force. Their language is markedly different from other languages of the Andamans, which suggests that they have been isolated for thousands of years. They have been called by experts the most isolated people in the world.