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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a tiny clearing far in the of Peru rainforest when he noticed movements approaching through the thick forest.

He realized that he had been surrounded, and halted.

“One positioned, pointing with an projectile,” he states. “Somehow he became aware I was here and I began to run.”

He ended up face to face the Mashco Piro tribe. For a long time, Tomas—residing in the tiny community of Nueva Oceania—served as practically a neighbor to these nomadic tribe, who shun interaction with outsiders.

An updated document by a rights organisation indicates exist a minimum of 196 described as “uncontacted groups” left globally. This tribe is considered to be the biggest. The study states a significant portion of these tribes could be eliminated in the next decade if governments neglect to implement additional actions to defend them.

It claims the greatest dangers come from logging, mining or drilling for oil. Isolated tribes are extremely susceptible to ordinary illness—therefore, the study notes a threat is posed by exposure with religious missionaries and online personalities in pursuit of clicks.

In recent times, the Mashco Piro have been coming to Nueva Oceania increasingly, based on accounts from residents.

Nueva Oceania is a fishermen's community of several households, perched elevated on the banks of the local river deep within the Peruvian jungle, a ten-hour journey from the most accessible settlement by watercraft.

This region is not recognised as a preserved zone for isolated tribes, and logging companies work here.

Tomas says that, on occasion, the sound of heavy equipment can be detected day and night, and the tribe members are observing their forest damaged and ruined.

Within the village, residents say they are conflicted. They are afraid of the tribal weapons but they also possess profound regard for their “relatives” residing in the jungle and want to protect them.

“Allow them to live in their own way, we can't alter their culture. This is why we maintain our separation,” says Tomas.

The people in Nueva Oceania are anxious about the harm to the community's way of life, the risk of violence and the chance that loggers might introduce the Mashco Piro to diseases they have no defense to.

While we were in the community, the tribe appeared again. Letitia Rodriguez Lopez, a resident with a toddler girl, was in the woodland collecting produce when she heard them.

“We heard shouting, cries from individuals, a large number of them. As if it was a large gathering yelling,” she shared with us.

This marked the first time she had encountered the tribe and she fled. An hour later, her head was still pounding from fear.

“Since operate deforestation crews and companies destroying the woodland they are fleeing, possibly out of fear and they end up near us,” she explained. “We are uncertain what their response may be to us. This is what terrifies me.”

Two years ago, two individuals were attacked by the tribe while angling. A single person was wounded by an arrow to the gut. He survived, but the other man was located lifeless days later with several injuries in his body.

The Peruvian government has a approach of no engagement with secluded communities, making it illegal to initiate encounters with them.

The policy was first adopted in Brazil following many years of campaigning by community representatives, who noted that initial contact with isolated people could lead to entire groups being decimated by sickness, poverty and malnutrition.

Back in the eighties, when the Nahau tribe in Peru made initial contact with the world outside, a significant portion of their community succumbed within a matter of years. In the 1990s, the Muruhanua community faced the same fate.

“Remote tribes are highly vulnerable—in terms of health, any interaction might introduce illnesses, and even the simplest ones could wipe them out,” says a representative from a tribal support group. “From a societal perspective, any exposure or disruption may be very harmful to their existence and survival as a community.”

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