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| Nukak preparing darts for blowpipe
© Gustavo Pollitis/Survival |
150 Indians belonging to one of the last nomadic tribes in the Amazon
have been forced to flee their land after becoming caught up in
Colombia's drugs war.
Large numbers of left-wing guerrillas have taken over the Indians'
territory, and are engaged in fighting with the Colombian army and
right-wing paramilitaries. All sides are seeking to control the
lucrative drugs trade which thrives in this remote region.
The Indians belong to the Nukak-Makú
tribe, who live in the eastern Colombian Amazon. The tribe first made
contact with white people in 1988. Around half the tribe have died
since then from diseases such as flu and measles, leaving a population
of about 500. In 1997 a Survival campaign succeeded in gaining legal
protection of the Indians' territory on paper.
Until recently most of the Nukak were trying to continue their nomadic
hunter-gatherer way of life in the face of waves of violence against
them and the colonisation of their lands by poor Colombians growing
coca. However, the scale of the fighting now taking place has made
their life in the forest impossible, and the very survival of the tribe
is now at risk.
Click here to support the Nukak.
For more information call Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or email mr@survival-international.org
