Though referred to as uncontacted or isolated, the Panoa Indians—pictured by a palm-leaf hut—are thought to have had limited interaction with outsiders but prefer to remain isolated, according to José Carlos Meirelles, the Indian-affairs specialist who led the team that took the new pictures in April 2010.

“They always get scared when they see an aircraft, but this tribe is used to seeing commercial flights—Boeings and local jets—flying over the region,” said the newly retired Meirelles, who for 40 years worked for FUNAI, Brazil’s indigenous-rights agency.

“I prefer to get them scared once a year—and make sure they are healthy, growing in number, and protected from loggers and miners—rather than leave them without any supervision.”

Unfortunately, uncontacted tribes usually live in resource-rich areas threatened by logging, mining and other development. There’s often pressure on governments to turn a blind eye. Videos like this, released by tribal advocacy group Survival International and produced by the BBC’s Human Planet program, are legal proof that uncontacted tribes still exist, and deserve protection.

It’s amazing that human still live like this and horrible that their way of life, and their home, is being destroyed.

[Cheers wired.com]