Following the success of Bruce Parry’s ‘Tribe‘ series, the BBC is back with another anthropological style series: ‘Tribal Wives’. This time British women from a variety of backgrounds are sent to live with different tribes to experience the life of tribal women, including the Kuna in Panama, Waorani in Ecuador, Afar in Ethiopia, and Himba in Namibia.

The programme is an interesting insight into tribal life, but mainly focuses on the British women themselves, rather than highlighting the problems that tribal peoples are facing.

Survival works with both the Waorani and the Himba who face real threats: the Waorani from oil exploration and logging, and the Himba from a proposed dam which will flood their lands. The programmes are on BBC 2 at 9pm on the following dates:

Episode 1: 18 June - Kuna in Panama
Episode 2: 25 June - Waorani in Ecuador
Episode 3: 2 July - Afar in Ethiopia
Episode 4: 9 July - Himba in Namibia

Further info at: www.tribalwives.com

The British newspaper The Observer claimed this weekend that it’s now ‘emerged’ that the uncontacted tribe whose photos went around the world were neither ‘lost’, nor ‘undiscovered’ nor ‘unknown’.

This is a classic example of journalists getting the wrong end of the stick. The only people who ever claimed that the Indians photographed were ‘lost’ or ‘undiscovered’ were…. the press, despite the fact that Survival has been campaigning for the protection of the many isolated Indian tribes on the Peru-Brazil border for more than twenty years.

Indeed, you might have thought that the fact that the Indians are living in a government reserve set aside for isolated Indian groups would tend to indicate that they weren’t exactly ‘unknown’.

For the avoidance of doubt, let’s just make it clear – yes, the tribe is uncontacted, that is to say, has no peaceful contact with outsiders. But no, they’re not ‘lost’ – they know where they are, and anthropologists, Survival, other NGOs and the Brazilian government have known that there are many isolated Indian tribes living in that region for decades.

What is undoubtedly true is that many people, not least the President of Peru, had publicly questioned whether there were any uncontacted Indians there at all, which is why the fact that Peru’s government has now been pushed into sending a team to investigate is such welcome news.

I guess we should be used by now to the fact that quite a few journalists are incapable of writing on this subject without resorting to stereotypes about ‘lost’ tribes, but one might have hoped that The Observer would know better.

Tribal land could enjoy greater protection
under international law. © Survival

The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, UNPO, has launched a campaign for countries to ratify the only international law for tribal peoples.

International Labour Organisation Convention 169, or ILO 169, recognises tribal peoples’ land ownership rights and says they should be consulted about projects that affect them. Unlike UN Declarations, it is legally binding. The more countries that ratify the Convention, the more force it will have.

Survival’s own campaign for ILO 169 is also gaining momentum; so far, 119 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion calling on the UK government to ratify the Convention.

At the moment the UK refuses to sign up to the law, saying that it has nothing to do with this country. But they are wrong – if the UK were to ratify ILO 169, it would be a major step forward in recognising and protecting tribal peoples’ rights everywhere.

Find out if your MP has signed the Early Day Motion. If they haven’t, write to them today!

From global news front-pages to Facebook, the media has come alive in recent days at the sight of the uncontacted tribe on Brazil’s border with Peru. Thanks to the impact of these photographs, many millions of people have become aware of the dangers facing these unique people.

Here’s a collage from the web and media storm as viewed from Survival’s offices in London.



		“ They are so brave. instead of running from something that must be terrifying to them, they stand their ground and defend themselves. ”