I reckon that if Brazil really wanted to protect these tribes the last thing they should have done was to point out where they live to predators from the so-called "civilised" world which savages and morphs alternative cultures into one dismissive irrelevance.
In this case, it appears the drug traffickers want the natives' land but there have also been moves to enforce western civilisation on Amazonian tribes - for their own good of course - in the name of "progress."
I hope these missing people who have so far been allowed to live their lives their way are safe but it doesn't seem likely given what they are up against either from the drug cartels or land developers.
On their own they do just fine without the aid of modern medicine and healthcare as documented in the report linked above into the health of indigenous people not yet shafted by modern life. It reveals the obvious answer on how to ensure these tribes stay healthy in the future.
"...the importance of land, and the need to make their own decisions about their own way of life and futures, is fundamental to all tribal people."
In other words. Just leave them alone, get off their land, don't force them to accept the Western way of life and don't go pointing them out to the rest of the world for exploitation.
Our own Govt which is in pursuit of Citizen happiness would do well to take note that the best way to achieve it is to stop the social engineering of our lifestyles. In other words. Just leave us alone.
I noted in the report that tribal people tend to be healthier than westerners and happier than billionaires. They don't get cancer and other diseases of the modern age. Of course, the authors also put their natural longevity down to the fact that these natives don't smoke or drink alcohol or eat junk food.
However, that seemed odd to me because as they are from the same kind of ancient heritage as Native Americans, who had their land and culture largely obliterated by Westerners, I would have thought that tobacco was also an important part of their way of life.
And so it is for both spiritual and medicinal reasons.
Tobacco is one of the most important plants in the lives of all tribes of the northwest Amazon (Wilbert, 1987). It's many names include lukux-ri (Yukuna); ye'-ma (Tariana); a'-li (Bare); e'-li (Baniwa); mu-lu', pagári-mulé (Desano); kherm'-ba (Kofán); dé-oo-wé (Witoto) It plays a part in curative rituals, in important tribal ceremonies and it is occasionally used as a recreational drug. In its various forms it is also employed in the ordinary medical practices of some tribes.
It seems they don't smoke a lot of it - but then they don't have the stress of modern life - but they do use it recreationally in snuff form.
I think I'd rather be a smoking Native than a Western smoker but life has a shit way of dealing what you get.
At least living in the UK, I don't have to run for my life ... errrr ... unless I've lived in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Liverpool or even leafy Gloucester these last few days.
