Dr. Douglas Rodrigues on Protecting the Amazon's Remaining Isolated Peoples
Dr. Douglas Rodrigues on Protecting the Amazon's Remaining Isolated Peoples
How can governments best protect the Amazon's remaining isolated peoples from the threats posed by outside contact?
I have worked as a doctor and researcher with indigenous communities in central Brazil’s Xingu National Park since 1981, and I have witnessed how contact with vulnerable, isolated groups results in high rates of violence, disease and death. Currently, Brazil’s National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) recognizes 28 indigenous groups living in autonomous isolation, three of whom have made contact in the past year: the Txapanawa in Acre, an Awá-Guajá group in Maranhão, and a Korubo group in Amazonas.
In the case of the Awá-Guajá and the Korubo, the search for medical assistance appears to...
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