Uncontacted peoples
Uncontacted peoples are groups of indigenous peoples living without sustained contact with neighbouring communities and the world community. Groups who decide to remain uncontacted are referred to as indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation.[1] Legal protections make estimating the total number of uncontacted peoples challenging, but estimates from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in the UN and the non-profit group Survival International point to between 100 and 200 uncontacted tribes numbering up to 10,000 individuals total.[2][3][4] A majority of uncontacted peoples live in South America, particularly northern Brazil, where the Brazilian government and National Geographic estimate between 77 and 84 tribes reside.[5]
Knowledge of uncontacted peoples comes mostly from encounters with neighbouring indigenous communities and aerial footage.
Definition[edit]
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.[6]
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.[7] As such uncontacted peoples are understood not as living in an anachronistic state of nature but rather as contemporaries of modernity.[8]
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.[9]
To highlight their agency in staying uncontacted or isolated, international organizations emphasize calling them "indigenous peoples in isolation" or "in voluntary isolation".[1] Otherwise they have also been called "hidden peoples" or "uncontacted tribes".[1]
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,[10][11] as well as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, identifying uncontacted peoples as "lost tribes".[12]
Historical[edit]
Australia[edit]
The Pintupi Nine lived a traditional life in the Gibson Desert of Australia until 1984, having earlier split off from another group of Pintupi people.
United States[edit]
Ishi, a member of the Yahi people of Northern California, remained in voluntary isolation from the outside world until 1911 and was acclaimed as the "last wild Indian".