Previously unknown Indian tribe discovered in Brazil

Saturday, June 2, 2007

An Indian tribe, thought to have had little previous contact with civilization, was found in a remote area of the Amazon, approximately 2000 km to the north of Rio de Janeiro. It comprises 87 members. Called Metyktire, they are reported to be by and large naked, except that the men use penis sheaths, and the women shave the tops of their heads.

The reason for their not being discovered before now is thought to be at least partly due to the lack of larger rivers in the area, which makes communication difficult. The discovery was made when two members of the Metyktire tribe suddenly showed up in the Kayapo tribe's village, in the Menkregnoti reservation of the Amazon. The Metyktire tribe is a subgroup of the Kayapo tribe, with which it has had little significant contact, but the members speak an archaic form of the Kayapo language.

In order to protect the members of the tribe from diseases they might lack resistance to, the Brazilian government has forbidden contact with them except for a team of doctors which has been sent in to examine them.

Sources

Paal Adolfsen Svendsen. "Første kontakt med sivilisasjonen" — Norsk rikskringkasting, June 2, 2007 (Norwegian)

Michael Astor. "Indian Tribe Found in Brazil's Amazon" — Guardian Unlimited, June 2, 2007

"Uncontaced Indian Tribe Found in Brazilian Amazon" — FOX News, June 1, 2007

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This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.