Uncontacted peoples

Uncontacted people, also referred to as isolated people or lost tribes, are communities who live, or have lived, either by choice (peoples living in voluntary isolation) or by circumstance, without significant contact with global civilization. Few peoples have remained totally uncontacted by global civilization. Indigenous rights activists call for such groups to be left alone, stating that it will interfere with their right to self-determination. Most uncontacted communities are located in densely forested areas in South America, New Guinea, India, and Central Africa. Knowledge of the existence of these groups comes mostly from infrequent and sometimes violent encounters with neighboring tribes, and from aerial footage. Isolated tribes may lack immunity to common diseases, which can kill a large percentage of their people after contact.

History

Modern

Uncontacted tribes are a source of fascination in "contacted" society, and the idea of tour operators offering extreme adventure tours to specifically search out uncontacted people has become controversial. A BBC Four documentary in 2006 documented a controversial American tour operator who specializes in escorted tours to "discover" uncontacted people in West Papua, similar to the BBC's own adventure in Papua New Guinea to make its 1971 documentary A Blank on the Map in which the first contact in over a decade was made with the Biami people.