Close Encounters

an Amazon basin tribe in 2008                                                             Reuters

At this point in history, every isolated tribe we know of has had some kind of contact with the world beyond its borders, be it from a plane flying overhead or from outsiders stumbling upon them in the forest. Earlier this summer, in Brazil, members of one such tribe walked out of their forest to initiate contact with nearby villagers. What is interesting, sad, and surprising about this is that they didn't emerge because they were curious about the outside world, but because they were fearful and asking for help. Apparently, their village had suffered several attacks by outsiders. Such contact, however, brings its own dangers, including viruses and bacteria to which they are vulnerable: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140804-sad-truth-of-uncontacted-tribes