Lost wild tribes that have survived to this day. Lost tribes living outside of civilization Lost tribes

Days 1 and 2. Three in Barajas, or Saludos, Miraflores!
May 31st and June 1st. Moscow - Madrid - Lima

Probably, every traveler has a blue dream - to climb into the very wilds of the South American jungle, so alluring with their wild nature with outlandish anacondas, jaguars and armadillos and, of course, lost Indian tribes, about which no one knows anything in this twenty-first century. A lot of books have been written about this and many films have been shot, but the traveler will understand that being in such a place and feeling it all cannot be compared with any, even the most intriguing, film...

The most amazing thing is that these tribes still exist. Neither the massive cutting down of the Amazonian selva in a number of countries, nor the frenzied extraction of hydrocarbons in others, nor the construction of giant hydroelectric power plants can deprive the Indians of the opportunity to take refuge in the endless expanses of the Amazon and Orinoco river basins. It is here, along with the swampy jungles of West Papua, that there are still separate communities that lead an absolutely isolated lifestyle from the outside world. The so-called non-contact tribes most often consciously chose their path of seclusion. It is believed that the tribes, simply lost in the impenetrable wilderness, where no white man has set foot, no longer exist.

Brazil is an example of a country where the protection of the traditional way of life of non-contact and little-contact tribes is an important part of public policy. Here, not only the positions of the government organization for the protection of Indian tribes FUNAI are strong, but also the measures of state coercion. Even if you are a famous scientist and pursue the goal of exclusively studying and popularizing traditional Indian culture, the path to a number of tribes is ordered for you, the state will never issue official permission to visit them. Getting there by smuggling is a very risky gamble, which threatens with a significant prison term. Without the support of a large number of locals, such as the leaders of neighboring tribes, minders, fishermen, military and other helpers, one cannot get into the real wilderness. For all of them, helping white adventurers means complicity in crime, and therefore such a risk requires huge financial investments on the part of the traveler and most often ends with the refusal of the locals to continue the journey.

Other countries, such as Venezuela, Colombia or Peru, have a more relaxed policy on visiting remote areas inhabited by low-contact tribes. Of course, access there requires obtaining official permission from the authorities, which, with a sufficient degree of perseverance and the right contacts, can often be arranged. Needless to say, this is Latin America, and obtaining permission here does not exclude the actual risks of friction with the military or with the tribes themselves on the ground, and therefore does not mean the possibility of actually fulfilling the route and purpose of the expedition.

For the past ten years, traveling to the most unique places on the planet, studying various cultures, from the Pygmies of the Ituri Forest to the Okavango Bushmen, from the last reindeer herders of Yamal to the tree-dwelling Korowai in Papua, I have always understood that in the Amazonia, the Amazonia that I I dreamed I would go when I could afford three or four weeks for this trip.
Everything in life changes, I radically changed my professional activity, and fate brought me together with a wonderful person, an ethnologist, undoubtedly the best specialist in Russia in the field of studying South American indigenous tribes, Andrei Matusovsky.

Andrei has made 14 scientific expeditions to various tribes of five countries and continues his field research. My expeditions, aimed at popularizing unique small cultures, intersected with Andrey's goals.
Thus, in our minds, obsessed with a passion for ethnography, the idea was born of an expedition to the Matses, called "jaguar people" for their tradition of wearing "whiskers" reminiscent of cats.
The Matses, settled mostly on the territory of modern Brazil, have also been preserved on the left bank of the Zhavari, that is, on the territory of Peru.
Andrei says that almost all Peruvian matses no longer live in a completely traditional way and have left their large communal houses - maloki. However, there are those who preferred to preserve their own culture of Western civilization and moved upstream the tributaries of Zhavari. That is where we are headed. Our three-and-a-half-week expedition aims to in-depth study of the traditional way of life, culture and customs of the Matses Indians.

We all fly on different flights. Lyosha left early, but he had a layover in Madrid for the whole day. Tanya generally flies from Koh Samui to Kuala Lumpur, from there to Amsterdam and on to Lima. And without spending the night immediately to Iquitos. She's in business with a shaman, booked an ayahuasca ceremony. Andrey and I are flying together via Madrid.
Who would have thought that a two-hour layover in Barajas could be a problem. After a half-hour taxiing on the runway and a long baggage claim, it turned out that Aeroflot brought us to the first terminal, and we had a flight to Lima from the fourth. My aunt on the bus drove as best she could, and we arrived at check-in for the flight exactly one hour before.
At check-in, we were absolutely alone, we received our boarding cards and instructions on how to get through to the controls and boarding. In front of us, the scoreboard indicated that it was 23 minutes to our counter. We wondered for a long time what it should have been like on the way, so that at an empty airport we got 23 minutes to the counter. Kilometers on foot, dozens of trevalators and escalators and an underground train. - Finally, we arrived at another endless building of Barajas for passport control. It's funny, but we made all the movements around the airport all alone, until we finally caught up with a girl flying to Ecuador. So the three of us walked through the deserted buildings of the airport. At some point, I got the impression that we weren’t the only ones flying at all :)

In fact, it turned out that the LATAMa flight was three-quarters full. The Spanish grandmother sitting with me went to her girlfriends and freed me the second chair.

It was a great breeze at night, and Andrey got himself a runny nose. I slept like a log for almost 7 hours, taking two chairs.

Jorge Chavez Airport received us at 6 am local time, that is, at 2 pm Moscow time. In Latin American style, a long baggage claim and a pre-booked taxi with a sign "Mzungu", and at half past seven we ended up at the Villa Molina hotel in the tourist area of ​​Miraflores. There were still a few hours left before the check-in time, there were no free rooms to check us in earlier as a booking.com genius traveler did not work. Therefore, a kind grandmother, talking to me through the google audio translator on the phone, provided us with a free breakfast.
Breakfast, by the way, is very tasty, with their own baked buns, papaya Frankie and very sweet watermelon and melon.
Upon returning from breakfast, our grandmother at the reception continued to twist in her hands a large board with a table of room reservations in their hotel for the current week. Andrey joked that this is how booking.com electronic registration looks like here.

A morning walk through the Miraflores area showed that this area is nothing for which the traveler's eye could catch. Standard formless South American architecture, a minimum of historical sites and green spaces. The John F. Kennedy Central Park in Miraflores is only twice the size of the public square I have on Shelepikha. Prices in local eateries are almost Moscow.
I liked the local money changers, just standing in the city center with a bundle of banknotes in their hands. Made them a profit. The course in the center is better than at the airport.

The reconnaissance in force determined what we would do in the next two days in Lima before flying to Iquitos.
Although I didn’t feel sleepy because of the jet lag, we decided to get some sleep before Lesha’s arrival. Lyosha arrived at half past five. You need to eat properly. We found a suitable place with a large presence of locals in advance. - Cevicheria on Angamos Avenue offered us a typical local dish - ceviche - with bright pictures from the menu. You won’t surprise anyone with this now, in Moscow this dish is prepared very decently in the right places. Ceviche - raw fish or seafood cut into large cubes, slightly marinated in vinegar. In fact, ceviche is a way of slicing, just like carpaccio or tartar.
Each got a huge plate of fish ceviche with onions and corn "nuts", which we barely mastered with local white beer "Cuzquena".

Our hotel is only 400 meters from Huac Pucayan, an ancient pyramid now excavated and now an open-air museum.
A visit to this museum is recommended at night, when the huge terraces of the pyramid are illuminated with artificial lighting. We started our introductory ethnographic program from Huac Pukayana.

This pyramid was erected around the 7th century BC by the Lima civilization, which inhabited the coastal strip on the territory of modern Peru. Lima built the pyramid as a place for important events and sacrifices. Young girls were often sacrificed.
Interest in construction technology. For this, local light clay soil was used, to which river water and seashells were added for strength. Bricks were formed from clay, which were dried in the sun and laid out vertically. Therefore, the design was called "library". I don’t know if this technology is unique, but I haven’t seen anything like it anywhere else in the world.
They built to the conscience, as the guide explained to us. During the last serious earthquake, that part of the pyramid that was restored collapsed completely, while the original remained unshakable. One can only imagine how many earthquakes this building has experienced in its two and a half thousand years.

Satisfied and full, we went to the very center of Miraflores, to the Kennedy Park area, missed a caiperinha cocktail at a local bar. Caiperinha is actually a Brazilian theme based on Brazilian cachaça with the addition of lime juice and cane sugar. I must say, it is very reminiscent of a sour Peruvian pisco sour cocktail. While pisco is a distillate of grape juice, cachaça is made from sugar cane and is essentially a traditional Brazilian rum.

By the end of a long, double day, I feel terribly sleepy. In Moscow, almost nine in the morning.

South America accounts for the largest number of tribes that are not in contact with modern civilization and, in their development, are not far from the Stone Age. They were so lost in the impenetrable jungle of the vast Amazon basin that scientists still periodically discover more and more new tribes of Indians, still unknown to the world.

The plane was fired upon

The Amazon River Basin is a unique region where many places have still been preserved, where no topographer, no ethnographer, or just a civilized person has yet set foot. It is not surprising that periodically in this vast territory, researchers discover Indian tribes that are still unknown to either local authorities or scientists. Most of the so-called non-contact tribes live in Brazil. More than 80 such tribes have already been recorded in the lists of the National Indian Foundation. Some tribes number only two or three dozen Indians, others can reach 1-1.5 thousand people.

In 2008, news channels literally around the world reported the discovery of a previously unknown tribe in the Amazon jungle near the Brazilian-Peruvian border. During the next flight, scientists from the aircraft noticed elongated huts, and next to them were half-naked women and children. When the plane turned around and flew over the village again, the women and children had already disappeared, but rather belligerent men appeared, whose bodies were painted red. They fearlessly made an attempt to hit the plane with arrows from their bows. By the way, together with the warriors, a black-painted woman came out to confront the terrible chirping "bird"; perhaps it was the priestess of the tribe.

Scientists came to the conclusion that the tribe, unknown to science, is quite prosperous and, possibly, numerous. All its representatives look healthy and well-fed, we managed to fix fruit baskets in the photo, and from the plane we noticed some kind of garden. According to scientists, this tribe is stuck in a primitive system and has been in this state for ten thousand years.

It is curious that scientists did not expect to find any settlement in this place at all. So far, no attempts have been made to contact this tribe. This is dangerous for both scientists and Indians: the former may suffer from spears and arrows of savages, while the latter may die from diseases to which they have no immunity.

"Head blowers" and a little bit of cannibals

In the western part of the Amazon basin, in Brazilian territory near the border with Peru, lives the Korubo tribe, which was first discovered only in 1996. The Brazilians call these Indians corubo caseteiros, translated from Portuguese - "people with clubs." They also have an eerie nickname - "head blowers", it is associated with their habit of carrying battle clubs with them and deftly wielding them in conflict situations and in battles with neighboring tribes. Rumor has it that korubo are cannibals and may well eat human flesh if they are hungry.

The male half of the tribe, of course, is engaged in hunting and fishing. With the help of blowpipes with poisoned arrows, korubo hunt birds, monkeys and sloths, and sometimes people ... At one time, the Spanish conquistadors were horrified by these blowpipes. Hiding in dense thickets with their silent weapons, the Indians could inflict significant damage on any unit, and then disappear into the jungle without loss. Modern weapons will also not save travelers if the korubo suddenly decide to hunt them.

Korubo thrives on a solid "democracy": in their tribe everyone is equal, they have neither the poor, nor "oligarchs", nor leaders, nor priests, nor any privileged strata. The Indians decide the emerging issues at the general meeting, and women are not deprived of the right to vote. The only privilege of the men of the tribe is the right to have several wives. A typical Indian hut - korubo is a huge "communal", it is a very long house with four entrances, in which up to a hundred people live. Inside, it is, however, divided by some partitions woven from palm leaves, but, by and large, they rather create only the appearance of separate rooms.

In Russia, information about this lost tribe appeared thanks to the travels and publications of the St. Petersburg scientist and businessman Vladimir Zverev. Traveling with Muscovite Anatoly Khizhnyak through the Amazonian jungle, the Russians unexpectedly encountered Korubo Indians. This meeting could well end in the death of travelers; fortunately, armed guides were with them, and the bulk of the men of the tribe left the village to hunt.

For a couple of days, the Indians thoroughly cleaned out our travelers, stealing from them not only food, spoons, mugs and bowls, but also hats. However, knowing about the aggressiveness of this tribe, we can assume that the Russians got off lightly. Despite their very tarnished reputation, the Korubo Indians are under the protection of the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI), specially created in Brazil.

By the way, the korubo once insidiously killed seven representatives of this organization, but FUNAI employees did not even look for the killers, believing that these children of the jungle were unaware of Brazilian laws, so they did not bear any responsibility for their actions.

"Extreme empirics" from the Amazonian jungle

In addition to Korubo, there are many more exotic tribes in the Amazon, among them the Pirah tribe stands out. Details from the life of a feast became known to the world thanks to the Christian missionary Daniel Everett. Back in the second half of the 20th century, Everett settled in a tribe called Piraha, living in the Maya River Valley in Brazil. It is worth noting that the missionary was a linguist and anthropologist, so his testimonies are not just the notes of a religious figure and an inquisitive person, but the observations of a fully qualified scientist.

Everett called the feasts "extreme empiricists": these Indians rely solely on their experience and do not perceive what they have not seen themselves or have not heard from direct eyewitnesses. That is why the religious mission of Everett and suffered a complete collapse. As soon as he began to talk about the deeds of Jesus, the Indians immediately bombarded him with purely practical questions. They were interested in how tall the Savior was, the color of his skin and where Everett met him. As soon as the missionary confessed that he had never seen him, one of the Indians said, "You've never seen him, so why are you telling us this?" After that, the pirates completely lost interest in the missionary's soul-saving conversations.

Feasts never cease to amaze modern scientists: for example, for them there is no concept of "one", and attempts to teach their children to count at least up to ten were unsuccessful. At the end of the training, they didn't even see any difference between the piles of five and four, they considered them the same! In the Piraha language, there is practically no distinction between singular and plural, and "he" and "they" for them are one word. They also do not have such seemingly extremely necessary words as “everyone”, “all” and “more”. Of their language, Everett wrote the following: “The language was not difficult, it was unique. There is nothing else like it on Earth."

Another amazing feature of this tribe is that pirates are afraid to sleep for a long time. In their opinion, after a long sleep, you can wake up as a different person; in addition, the Indians believe that sleep makes them weak. This is how they live, alternating twenty-minute naps at night with active wakefulness. Most likely, due to the lack of a long sleep, which for us, as it were, separates from day to day, the feasts have neither "today" nor "tomorrow". They keep no record of time and, like the heroes of a popular song, the feasts "have no calendar."

About once every six or seven years, the Pirahas change their name, because they consider themselves as a child, teenager, youth, adult or old man to be different people ...

The tribe practically lives under communism, the feasts have no private property, they share everything they get equally, hunting and gathering just as much as they need for food at the moment. It is curious that the feasts do not have such concepts as "mother-in-law" or "mother-in-law", with the concepts of kinship they are clearly poor. "Mom" and "dad" are just "parent", they also consider both grandfather and grandmother. There are also the concepts of "child" and "brother / sister", the latter without distinction of gender. There are no "uncles" and "aunts" for pirates. They also have no feelings of shame, guilt, or resentment. Piraha do without polite phrases, they already love each other.

After staying with the feast, Everett completely went into scientific activity, became a professor. He considers the representatives of this tribe the happiest people in the world. The scientist writes: “You will not find chronic fatigue syndrome in feasts. You will not encounter suicide here. The very idea of ​​suicide is contrary to their nature. I have never seen anything in them that even remotely resembles the mental disorders that we associate with depression or melancholy. They just live for today and they are happy. They sing at night. This is just a phenomenal degree of satisfaction - without psychotropic drugs and antidepressants.

Despite Everett's fears about the fate of this unique tribe due to contact with civilization, in recent years the number of firahs, on the contrary, has increased from 300 to 700 people. The Indians are very cool about the benefits of civilization. True, they still began to wear clothes, and from gifts, according to Daniel, his friends accept only fabrics, tools, machetes, aluminum utensils, threads, matches, fishing line and hooks.

You may be interested in:

leave emotion

Like touched ha ha Wow sadness I'm angry

In the age of space technology, you don’t even think that there are tribes living like their ancestors millennia ago. Living among palm trees, hunting, eating pasture, these people do not even realize how huge and complex the world is.

5. Sentinelese

Having occupied the island of North Sentinel, the Sentinelese settled along the entire coast and are quite aggressive tribe. Any stranger they meet with arrows. The population of 300 is supported by hunting, gathering and fishing. The tribe is isolated from the outside world, and the only way to reproduce is related marriages. When trying to make contact, the group national geographic was bombarded by the Sentinelese. All the gifts left on the coast, the tribe threw into the ocean. Also, this tribe has an amazing property: they can predict natural disasters, after which they go deep into the jungle.

4. Masai

History made born pastoralists to take up arms, and this led to positive changes, because today the Masai are the most militant and most big tribe of Africa. Their religion claims that all animals on earth belong to them (conveniently, isn't it), so stealing livestock from other tribes is completely justified. You could see a lot of pictures of people in red dresses and with their ears and lips pulled back, so this is the Masai.

3. Nicobar and Andaman tribes

Aggressive tribes still remain in the 21st century cannibals who live only by capturing and eating people from neighboring tribes. The first in rigidity are the people of the tribe "Corubo". Instead of hunting and gathering, the men hone their skills in making poison darts and stone axes. By the way, the axes are polished for so long that it becomes easy to demolish the head.

2. Loaves

Enough friendly a tribe now that used to be a tribe cannibals. The tribe belongs to a very recent find, namely the end of the twentieth century. When you get into their environment, you get the feeling that you are in the Stone Age. Dwellings are built on trees from twigs, everyone built the same huts in childhood. Domesticated wild pigs are the main means of transportation and are eaten only when they are no longer able to carry goods and small loaves.

There are almost no places left on our planet where civilization has not penetrated. Achievements of science and technology made it possible to descend into the mouth of the volcano and climb to the highest mountain peak. But some tribes living far from civilization managed to keep their existence a secret. They still live by their own laws and do not let civilization into their world. There aren't many, but they are...

Tribe Suarma - descendants of aliens

The most mysterious and closed tribe from modern civilization. It was opened only in 1980. Representatives of the tribe live in a remote part of Ethiopia and lead a nomadic lifestyle. They are reluctant to accept tourists and behave quite arrogantly. And all because of the internal politics of the tribe and local folklore. As it turned out, the inhabitants of the Suarma tribe (or, according to other sources, Surma) are seriously convinced that they are descendants of aliens. Allegedly in the 5th century AD, an alien ship crashed in the mountains of Ethiopia. And the survivors of the crash were forced to stay on our planet. Hence their arrogance and dismissive attitude towards us, the local natives.

The inhabitants of the Suarma tribe are distinguished by their isolation, so for a long time it was problematic to learn something about them. There were many rumors about their supernatural powers. What people just don’t come up with to explain the incomprehensible, right?

However, thanks to the expedition of the Geographical Society of Iceland, it was possible to learn a lot of interesting facts. Scientists spent 4 months in the tribe. They studied local customs and legends, as well as took soil samples and conducted a radiological survey of the area. The research results were amazing. It turned out that around the 5th century AD, a powerful radioactive release occurred in the vicinity of the mountains. Is it really an alien ship?

It's hard to say for sure. Only one thing is clear - the inhabitants of the tribe have retained their identity throughout their history. And their legend. Why would an almost closed society come up with something like that?

Local customs are very original. Tribal women insert a metal ring into their lower lip on their 20th birthday. Its size depends on the amount of the dowry. And men shave their heads and cover their bodies with tattoos. This is done in order to emphasize its exclusivity.

Mysterious Peruvian tribe

Almost nothing is known about this tribe. This is the case when its existence was discovered by accident. Tourists in 2012 stumbled upon representatives of the tribe and captured them on film. It was not possible to establish at least some communication with them. The representatives of the tribe did not understand the modern language and soon simply left.

After studying the record, they came to the conclusion that the tribe was not known before. They really live where modern civilization has not yet reached. Anthropologists still do not know exactly where the settlement of mysterious people can be found.

Surprises from the Amazon

The Amazonian lowland is a unique region, there are a lot of unexplored areas and places where the foot of a civilized person has not set foot. The flora and fauna of the region still pleases scientists with new, unique species. The same applies to local residents. It is still not known exactly how many tribes live in the Amazon.

The Brazilian government provided a special aircraft in 2007 to overfly this vast area. It was equipped with modern photographic equipment for collecting information and fixing it. One of the purposes of such flights was to compile a register of the local population. The results were amazing.

On one of the flights, the plane was fired upon with bows. A repeated flyby at a higher altitude showed that a tribe previously unknown lives in the region. Houses and people were clearly visible on the map.

Surprisingly, scientists did not even assume that someone lives in that place. Until now, no attempts have been made to get into the tribe and establish contact with these people. Local residents can live in peace for now. Bye…

Hostile tribe of Sentinelese

If you are tired of life and you are ready to say goodbye to it, send to Northern Sentinel Island. It is located between India and Thailand. Any attempts to establish contact with the locals end in failure. As a rule, all guests are met already from the shore, bringing down their hospitality on them in the form of a wave of sharp arrows.

Only in 1960 was it possible to hold one peaceful meeting. But apparently, the locals decided not to repeat such nonsense for themselves anymore. The pigs given to them were killed and buried by local natives. Drinking coconuts. But red plastic buckets were gladly taken into use. Although exactly the same, but only green, left untouched.

Surprisingly, the tribe has an amazing vitality. Deprived of the technical inventions of modern civilization, they perfectly exist and survive in their world. Moreover, the terrible tsunami of 2004 passed through their island too, but the tribe survived, although they live on the very shore of the ocean.

Scientists would love to learn more about the way of life and customs of the Sentinelese, but all attempts are in vain. Recently, a National Geographic team was fired upon off the coast of the island, killing two guides and wounding the mission commander. Probably, according to the local residents, we are not very smart, since after so many attempts we still continue to climb into their territory.

It seems to us that we know everything and have studied everything. But it's not. Tribes that do not allow civilization into their lives exist. And they zealously defend their right to identity and personal space. Perhaps not in vain? And is it worth respecting their right to live their own lives? We must stop climbing to them with our gifts and help. They have been living their own way for thousands of years, and it suits them. After all, we also do not like it when they burst into our house with advice and force us to live according to our own laws.

Humanity has enough other problems that it would not hurt to deal with .... Or I'm wrong?

Surprisingly, in our age of atomic energy, laser guns and the exploration of Pluto, there are still primitive people who are almost unaware of the outside world. Throughout the earth, except for Europe, a huge number of such tribes are scattered. Some live in complete isolation, perhaps not even knowing about the existence of other "bipeds". Others know and see more, but are in no hurry to make contact. And still others are ready to kill any stranger.

What about us civilized people? Trying to "make friends" with them? Should you watch them carefully? Completely ignore?

Just in these days, disputes resumed when the authorities of Peru decided to make contact with one of the lost tribes. Aboriginal defenders are strongly opposed, because after contact they can die from diseases to which they have no immunity: it is not known whether they will agree to medical care.

Let's see who we are talking about, and what other tribes, infinitely far from civilization, are found in the modern world.

1. Brazil

It is in this country that most non-contact tribes live. In just 2 years, from 2005 to 2007, their confirmed number increased by 70% at once (from 40 to 67), and today more than 80 are already on the lists of the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI).

There are extremely small tribes, only 20-30 people each, others can number as many as 1.5 thousand. At the same time, all together they make up less than 1% of the population of Brazil, but the "original lands" assigned to them are 13% of the country's territory (green spots on the map).


To search for and account for isolated tribes, authorities periodically fly around the dense forests of the Amazon. So in 2008, hitherto unknown savages were seen near the border with Peru. First, anthropologists noticed from the plane their huts, similar to elongated tents, as well as half-naked women and children.



But during a repeated flight a few hours later, men with spears and bows, painted red from head to toe, and the same warlike woman, all black, appeared at the same place. They probably mistook the plane for an evil bird spirit.


Since then, the tribe has remained unexplored. Scientists only guess that it is very numerous and prosperous. The photo shows that people are generally healthy and well-fed, their baskets are full of roots and fruits, from the plane they even noticed something like orchards. It is possible that this people has existed for 10,000 years and since then has kept primitive.

2. Peru

But the very tribe with which the Peruvian authorities want to make contact is the Mashko-Piro Indians, who also live in the wilderness of the Amazonian forests in the territory of the Manu National Park in the southeast of the country. Previously, they always rejected strangers, but in recent years they have often come out of the thicket into the "outside world." In 2014 alone, they were spotted more than 100 times in populated areas, especially along the banks of the river, from where they pointed to passers-by.


“It seems that they themselves are making contact, and we cannot pretend that we do not notice this. They also have the right to do so,” the government says. They emphasize that in no case will the tribe be forced either to contact or to change their lifestyle.


Officially, Peruvian law forbids contact with lost tribes, of which there are at least a dozen in the country. But many have already managed to “talk” with Mashko-Piro, from ordinary tourists to Christian missionaries, who shared clothes and food with them. Maybe also because there is no punishment for violating the ban.


True, not all contacts were peaceful. In May 2015, mashko-piros came to one of the local villages and, having met the inhabitants, attacked them. One guy was killed on the spot, pierced by an arrow. In 2011, members of the tribe killed another local and wounded a national park ranger with arrows. Authorities hope the contact will help prevent future deaths.

This is probably the only civilized Indian Mashko-Piro. As a child, local hunters stumbled upon him in the jungle and took him with them. Since then, he has been named Alberto Flores.

3. Andaman Islands (India)

A tiny island of this archipelago in the Bay of Bengal between India and Myanmar is inhabited by extremely hostile to the outside world, the Sentinelese. Most likely, these are the direct descendants of the first Africans who ventured to leave the black continent about 60,000 years ago. Since then, this small tribe has been engaged in hunting, fishing and gathering. How they make fire is unknown.


Their language is not identified, but judging by its striking difference from all other Andamanese dialects, these people did not come into contact with anyone for thousands of years. The size of their community (or scattered groups) is also not established: presumably, from 40 to 500 people.


The Sentinelese are typical Negritos, as ethnologists call them: rather short people with very dark, almost black skin and short, fine curls of hair. Their main weapons are spears and bows with different types of arrows. Observations have shown that they accurately hit the target of human growth from a distance of 10 meters. Any outsiders are considered enemies by the tribe. In 2006, they killed two fishermen who were sleeping peacefully in a boat that accidentally washed up on their shore, and then met a search helicopter with a hail of arrows.


There were only a few "peaceful" contacts with the Sentinelese in the 1960s. Once, coconuts were left on the shore for them to see if they would plant them or eat them. - Ate. Another time they "gave" live pigs - the savages immediately killed them and ... buried them. The only thing that seemed useful to them was red buckets, as they were hurried to carry them deep into the island. And exactly the same green buckets were not touched.


But you know what is the strangest and most inexplicable thing? Despite their primitiveness and extremely primitive shelters, the Sentinelese generally survived the terrible earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004. But along the entire coast of Asia, almost 300 thousand people died then, which made this natural disaster the deadliest in modern history!

4. Papua New Guinea

The vast island of New Guinea in Oceania holds many unexplored secrets. Its hard-to-reach mountainous regions, covered with dense forests, only seem uninhabited - in fact, this is the home of many non-contact tribes. Due to the peculiarities of the landscape, they are hidden not only from civilization, but also from each other: it happens that there are only a few kilometers between two villages, but they are unaware of the neighborhood.


The tribes live in such isolation that each has its own customs and its own language. Just think - linguists distinguish about 650 Papuan languages, and in total more than 800 languages ​​are spoken in this country!


The same differences may be in their culture and way of life. Some tribes turn out to be relatively peaceful and generally friendly, like a nation funny to our ears. the fuck, which Europeans learned about only in 1935.


But the most sinister rumors circulate about others. There were cases when members of expeditions specially equipped to search for Papuan savages disappeared without a trace. This is how one of the richest American family members, Michael Rockefeller, disappeared in 1961. He separated from the group and is suspected to have been caught and eaten.

5. Africa

At the junction of the borders of Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan, several nationalities live, numbering about 200 thousand people, who are collectively called Surma. They raise cattle, but do not roam and share a common culture with very cruel and strange traditions.


Young men, for example, for the sake of winning brides, arrange stick fights, which can result in serious injuries and even death. And the girls, decorating themselves for a future wedding, remove their lower teeth, pierce their lip and stretch it so that a special plate fits there. The larger it is, the more cattle will be given for the bride, so that the most desperate beauties manage to squeeze in a 40-centimeter dish!


True, in recent years, the youth of these tribes have begun to learn something about the outside world, and more and more Surma girls are now refusing such a “beauty” ritual. However, women and men continue to adorn themselves with curly scars, which they are very proud of.


In general, the acquaintance of these peoples with civilization is very uneven: for example, they remain illiterate, but quickly mastered the AK-47 assault rifles that came to them during the civil war in Sudan.


And one more interesting detail. The first people from the outside world to come into contact with Surma in the 1980s were not Africans, but a group of Russian doctors. The natives then got scared, mistaking them for the walking dead - after all, they had never seen white skin before!