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A man named Tomas Anez Dos Santos worked in a small clearing far in the Peruvian jungle when he detected footsteps coming closer through the dense woodland.

He became aware he was hemmed in, and halted.

“One person stood, pointing with an projectile,” he recalls. “Somehow he noticed of my presence and I started to escape.”

He found himself encountering members of the Mashco Piro. For a long time, Tomas—who lives in the small village of Nueva Oceania—had been almost a neighbor to these itinerant individuals, who avoid interaction with strangers.

An updated study by a human rights group states exist no fewer than 196 of what it calls “remote communities” in existence worldwide. The Mashco Piro is believed to be the most numerous. The report claims 50% of these tribes may be decimated within ten years unless authorities neglect to implement further actions to defend them.

It claims the greatest risks stem from timber harvesting, digging or exploration for oil. Remote communities are extremely vulnerable to basic illness—as such, the study states a risk is caused by exposure with evangelical missionaries and social media influencers seeking attention.

Recently, members of the tribe have been coming to Nueva Oceania with greater frequency, based on accounts from inhabitants.

The village is a angling hamlet of seven or eight families, located high on the banks of the local river deep within the Peruvian rainforest, 10 hours from the closest village by watercraft.

The area is not classified as a preserved area for isolated tribes, and timber firms work here.

According to Tomas that, sometimes, the noise of industrial tools can be heard day and night, and the tribe members are seeing their woodland disrupted and devastated.

Among the locals, residents say they are torn. They fear the Mashco Piro's arrows but they also possess strong respect for their “kin” who live in the jungle and desire to protect them.

“Allow them to live according to their traditions, we must not modify their traditions. For this reason we maintain our separation,” says Tomas.

The people in Nueva Oceania are anxious about the destruction to the tribe's survival, the danger of violence and the possibility that deforestation crews might expose the Mashco Piro to illnesses they have no defense to.

During a visit in the community, the tribe made themselves known again. Letitia Rodriguez Lopez, a resident with a young daughter, was in the jungle picking food when she heard them.

“We detected calls, shouts from people, numerous of them. As though there was a whole group yelling,” she shared with us.

This marked the initial occasion she had encountered the tribe and she ran. Subsequently, her mind was still racing from terror.

“Since there are deforestation crews and companies clearing the jungle they're running away, possibly out of fear and they come close to us,” she explained. “We don't know how they might react with us. This is what terrifies me.”

Recently, two loggers were confronted by the group while fishing. A single person was hit by an bow to the gut. He recovered, but the other person was located dead subsequently with multiple injuries in his physique.

Authorities in Peru has a approach of no engagement with secluded communities, rendering it forbidden to commence interactions with them.

This approach was first adopted in the neighboring country after decades of advocacy by indigenous rights groups, who observed that first contact with isolated people resulted to whole populations being decimated by illness, poverty and malnutrition.

Back in the eighties, when the Nahau tribe in the country first encountered with the world outside, a significant portion of their population died within a short period. During the 1990s, the Muruhanua people faced the identical outcome.

“Secluded communities are very susceptible—in terms of health, any contact may introduce sicknesses, and even the most common illnesses may decimate them,” states an advocate from a tribal support group. “In cultural terms, any contact or interference could be very harmful to their existence and well-being as a group.”

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