The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon's Last Uncontacted Tribes

More than five-hundred years after Columbus arrived in America, there are still thousands of uncontacted Native Americans deep in the upper Amazon.  The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon's Last Uncontacted Tribes by Scott Wallace, documents the 2002 expedition to monitor the tribes (without contacting them) and gather evidence of encroachment by loggers and miners into their protected land.

aerial photos of uncontacted people

The author accompanies the mercurial Sydney Possuelo, the often unlikely “savior” of uncontacted peoples.  At the time of the writing, Possuelo was a high ranking official in FUNAI, the National Indian Foundation of Brazil.  This government agency attempts to keep the tribes in the state which they are in; one such group, called “The Arrow People” actively enforce their isolation through force in one of the most remote portions of the upper Amazon.

aerial footage of uncontacted people

Reading this book is an education.  In a world where we expect complete contact, instant information, Google street view - to have a group of indigenous people out of contact is simply astonishing.  That a government agency fosters this is even more astonishing.

aerial footage of uncontacted people

We must wonder, thought, how long can this go on? Will the will to keep these people isolated continue, or fall victim to greed, corruption, indifference, and racism.  Are these people the last of victims of Columbus?