Conservationist Details Bloody Encounter with Uncontacted Tribe

An American conservationist revealed astonishing, never-before-seen footage of a modern-day, uncontacted Amazonian tribe (via Times of India) while describing his bloody and near-fatal encounter.

Conservationist Described Close Call with Amazonian Tribe

Paul Rosolie has spent more than two decades working in the Amazonian rainforest side by side with indigenous tribes living without modern technology. The footage, which Rosolie unveiled during an interview with podcaster Lex Fridman, was captured near the Amazon Basin late last year. “In order for any of this to make sense, I had to show you this footage,” he told Fridman. “This has not been shown ever before. This is a world first.” 

The video is several minutes long and is shot from a distance, showing the Amazonian tribe from across a riverbank as they emerge, in cinematic fashion, from a cluster of airborne butterflies. Throughout the clip, the tribe is visibly agitated and concerned by noticeably docile, nervous to provoke the unfamiliar interlopers. Previously, “the only” footage captured of the tribe consists of “these blurry images from 100 meters away,” Rosolie explained.

“Look at the way they move. Look at the way they point. Look at him with his bow,” the conservationist said, indicating a man nocking an arrow.

The Tribe Seemed to Soften Initially

The group initially seemed ready for violence, raising their weapons and regarding Rosolie and his small crew with suspicion. “I’m looking in every direction going, ‘Which way is the arrow coming from?’ As they come closer, they start laying down their—See, he’s laying down his bow and arrow. They understand. No, no more,” Rosolie continued as he watched the footage. “These are warriors. It really looked like they’re ready for violence. And now they’re all standing, relaxed and smiling.”

Things Changed Quickly

But the following day, when Rosolie went to re-investigate the scene, he found the tribe in a different frame of mind. “George was driving [our] boat, and there [are] people on the boat, and as they were going up the river, the tribe ran out and surrounded the boat. They started firing arrows, and everybody else hit the deck and got under the benches and hid behind bags of rice.”

Rosolie continued: “George was driving, leaning back. He is driving as fast as he can, and one arrow came in just above his scapula and came out by his bellybutton. So he had that seven-foot arrow through him. Then, we pulled him out. I saw the boat later, and there was a horrific amount of blood in the boat.”

Researchers and conservationists estimate that there are approximately 200 uncontacted tribal groups worldwide, most of them existing in the Amazonian rainforest throughout Brazil and Peru. Experts say that encounters with these tribes have become increasingly common as areas of the rainforest are industrialized, limiting previously expansive “buffer zones” which offered isolation and protection.