The uncontactable Bravos

Published April 3, 2014
A Huni Kui Indian prepares a drink known as nixi pae or ayahuasca to use in a healing ritual in the village of Novo Segredo along the Envira river of Brazil's northwestern Acre state.
A Huni Kui Indian prepares a drink known as nixi pae or ayahuasca to use in a healing ritual in the village of Novo Segredo along the Envira river of Brazil's northwestern Acre state.
A Huni Kui Indian smokes herbs during a ritual in the village of Novo Segredo along the Envira river of Brazil's northwestern Acre state.
A Huni Kui Indian smokes herbs during a ritual in the village of Novo Segredo along the Envira river of Brazil's northwestern Acre state.
A spiritual leader (R) of the Huni Kui Indian tribe performs a ceremony for a sacred samauma (silk-cotton) tree outside the village of Novo Segredo along the Envira river in Brazil's northwestern Acre state,
A spiritual leader (R) of the Huni Kui Indian tribe performs a ceremony for a sacred samauma (silk-cotton) tree outside the village of Novo Segredo along the Envira river in Brazil's northwestern Acre state,
Ashaninka Indian children run down the bank of the Envira river to greet a boat near their village of Simpatia in Brazil's northwestern Acre state.
Ashaninka Indian children run down the bank of the Envira river to greet a boat near their village of Simpatia in Brazil's northwestern Acre state.
A view of the Shubua, or house of prayer, in the Huni Kui tribe's village of Me Txanava in Brazil's northwestern Acre state.
A view of the Shubua, or house of prayer, in the Huni Kui tribe's village of Me Txanava in Brazil's northwestern Acre state.
A Madija Indian child walks from one of the village huts which is a frequent target of raids by uncontacted Indians in the village of Dsama, along the Envira river in Brazil's northwestern Acre state.
A Madija Indian child walks from one of the village huts which is a frequent target of raids by uncontacted Indians in the village of Dsama, along the Envira river in Brazil's northwestern Acre state.
A Huni Kui Indian prepares a drink known as nixi pae or ayahuasca to use in a healing ritual in the village of Novo Segredo along the Envira river of Brazil's northwestern Acre state,
A Huni Kui Indian prepares a drink known as nixi pae or ayahuasca to use in a healing ritual in the village of Novo Segredo along the Envira river of Brazil's northwestern Acre state,
A spiritual leader (R) of the Huni Kui Indian tribe blows an herbal powder into the nose of a tribal member during a ceremony outside the village of Novo Segredo along the Envira river of Brazil's northwestern Acre state.
A spiritual leader (R) of the Huni Kui Indian tribe blows an herbal powder into the nose of a tribal member during a ceremony outside the village of Novo Segredo along the Envira river of Brazil's northwestern Acre state.

Many indigenous groups, including the Huni Kui, Ashaninka, and Madija, live in villages in the Brazilian rainforest near the border with Peru. Over the past three years, the Ashaninka and Madija say that they have seen more and more incursions on their territory from uncontacted tribes, defined by Survival International as groups who have no peaceful contact with mainstream society. The “Bravos,” or “Braves,” as uncontacted Indians are called in the region, carry out raids on other villages, putting the communities along the Envira River on permanent alert. Leaders of the Ashaninka tribe have asked the government and NGOs for help in controlling what they consider an encroachment on their area by these uncontacted indigenous groups, stating that the movement of these other tribes is the result of pressure caused by illegal logging across the border in Peru. — Photos and text by Reuters.

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