A Life In Isolation

"Uncontacted" Indians of the Envira, who have not had any contact with the outside world, are photographed during an overflight in May 2008, as they camp in the Terra Indigena Kampa e Isolados do Envira, Acre state, Brazil, close to Peru. Brazil's government released the photos Thursday, May 29, 2008, so that the world can better understand the threats facing one of the few tribes still living in near-total isolation.

In this image made available Thursday May 29, 2008, from Survival International, "uncontacted" Amazon Indians of the Envira, who have never before had any contact with the outside world, fire arrows at an airplane during an overflight in May 2008 at their camp in the Terra Indigena Kampa e Isolados do Envira, Acre state, Brazil, close to the border with Peru.

"Uncontacted" Indians of the Ethno-Environmental Protected Area along the Envira river, in the Brazilian state of Acre, close to the border with Peru, photographed during a flight in May 2008. Anthropologists have known about the group for some 20 years but released the images now to call attention to fast-encroaching development near the Indians' home in the dense jungles near Peru.

"Uncontacted" Indians of the Ethno-Environmental Protected Area along the Envira River, in the Brazilian state of Acre, close to the border with Peru, photographed during a flight in May 2008. Shot in late April and early May, the photos show about a dozen Indians, mostly naked and painted red, wielding bows and arrows outside six grass-thatched huts.

In this image made available Thursday, May 29, 2008, from Survival International, "uncontacted" Indians of the Envira are photographed during an overflight in May 2008, as they camp in Brazil, close to the border with Peru. Brazil's National Indian Foundation believes there may be as many as 68 "uncontacted" groups around Brazil, although only 24 have been officially confirmed.

In this image made available Thursday May 29, 2008, from Survival International, showing "uncontacted" Indians of the Envira. Anthropologists say almost all of these tribes know about western civilization and have sporadic contact with prospectors, rubber tappers and loggers, but choose to turn their backs on civilization, usually because they have been attacked.

This image released Thursday, May 29, 2008 by Survival International, shows "uncontacted" Indians of the Ethno-Environmental Protected Area along the Envira River, in the Brazilian state of Acre, close to the border with Peru, photographed during a flight in May 2008. Brazilian officials once tried to contact such groups. Now they try to protectively isolate them.

"Uncontacted" Indians of the Ethno-Environmental Protected Area along the Envira River, in the Brazilian state of Acre, photographed during a flight in May 2008. Loggers are closing in on the Indians' homeland -- Brazil's environmental protection agency said it had shut down 28 illegal sawmills in Acre state, where these tribes are located. And logging on the Peruvian border has sent many Indians fleeing into Brazil.

This image released Thursday, May 29, 2008 by Survival International, shows uncontacted Indians of the Ethno-Environmental Protected Area along the Envira River, in the Brazilian state of Acre, close to the border with Peru, photographed during a flight in May 2008.