Name ______________________________ Core _________ Date ________________________
Found! An Amazing Rainforest Tribe
buildings. The group grows corn, bananas, peanuts, and
other crops.
The region where the tribe was found is near
Brazil's border with Peru. It is part of a massive
reservation called Vale do Javari, which is nearly the
size of Portugal. The reservation is home to an estimated
2,000 individuals. Fabricio Amorim is the FUNAI
coordinator for Vale do Javari. According to Amorim, at
least 14 uncontacted tribes reside on the reservation.
Officials believe that up to eight more tribes may also
live in the area.
Most of Brazil's indigenous groups maintain
their native languages and traditions. But their culture—
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil Brazilian officials
and even their survival—are in danger. According to
recently confirmed the existence of an indigenous tribe
Amorim, the tribes face a host of threats. These threats
living in a remote part of the Amazon rainforest,
include fishing, hunting, and mining that are against the
completely isolated from modern civilization. The
law in the area. Deforestation by farmers also threatens
discovery of the community is the result of a determined
their existence.
effort by Brazil's government to identify uncontacted
tribes and preserve their way of life.
In June 2011, the Brazilian government's
There are two threats that are the worst. Both
oil companies and unlawful loggers are both rapidly
invading the tribes' rainforest home. Survival
National Indian Foundation—known by its Portuguese
International is a support organization for indigenous
acronym FUNAI—issued a press release about the
people in the Amazon. According to the organization,
recently identified tribe. According to the report,
logging on the Peru-Brazil border has sent many tribe
speculation about the group's existence was triggered by
members fleeing from their homes. Brazil's
satellite images. The pictures showed three large
environmental protection agency says it has shut down at
clearings in a southwestern area of the Amazon
least 28 unlawful sawmills in the area.
rainforest. Using airplanes to avoid upsetting the group,
Oil workers and loggers not only force tribes
officials confirmed tribe's existence and gathered
from their homes. They also run the risk of infecting the
additional data. According to FUNAI, first observations
tribes with diseases to which they have no immunity.
indicate that the tribe is made up of approximately 200
According to Survival International, workers from Shell
individuals. They live in four large, straw-roofed
Oil Company explored the area in the 1980s. Contact
with the oil workers sickened at least half of the
members of the Nahua tribe. Contact with loggers also
to such groups. Nearly 22 percent of the Amazon has
sickened at least half of the Murunahua tribe in 1996.
been returned to tribes.
"First contact [can be a huge problem] for
Brazil recognizes the importance of protecting
uncontacted tribes," said Miriam Ross. Ross is a
the isolated tribes that reside deep in the Amazon
campaigner with Survival International. "It's not unusual
rainforest. The country plans to continue working to
for 50 percent of the tribe to [get sick] in months after
identify tribes. It wants to prevent the invasion of tribal
first contact. They don't generally have immunity to
land. Brazilian officials hope their efforts will preserve
diseases common to outside society."
the uncontacted people's independence—and ensure
Many indigenous populations have long
fought for control of land on which they've traditionally
their survival.
"The work of identifying and protecting
resided. The tribes won legal rights to reclaim that
isolated groups is part of Brazilian public policy," said
territory in Brazil's 1988 constitution. The document
Amorim. "To confirm something like this takes years of
declared that all indigenous ancestral lands must be
methodical work."
marked and turned over to tribes within five years. Thus
far, 11 percent of Brazilian territory has been turned over
One reason officials don't want to contact the recently discovered tribe in Brazil is because doing so
could put the tribe in danger. The tribe members have not had contact with outside civilizations, and because
of this, they have no immunity to many of the diseases that we are exposed to regularly.
This played itself out for hundreds of years in America. After Europeans arrived in the New World,
many Native Americans died. Some were killed in skirmishes with settlers. But many died of diseases—like
smallpox, influenza, and typhoid—that the Europeans unknowingly brought with them. The Europeans were
much more resistant to these diseases because they had been exposed to them. But the Native Americans had
never been exposed to them before and were infected much more easily.
Dictionary
disease (noun)
a sickness
language (noun)
the words people use to talk and write
rainforest (noun)
a place with a lot of trees where it rains often
reservation (noun)
land set aside for use by a group of people
uncontacted (adjective)
disease (noun)
not having been touched or reached by other people
a sickness
language (noun)
the words people use to talk and write
rainforest (noun)
a place with a lot of trees where it rains often
reservation (noun) land set aside for use by a group of people
uncontacted (adjective)
confirm (verb)
not having been touched or reached by other people
immunity (noun)
to prove that something is true
the body's ability to resist disease
indigenous (adjective)
native to a particular country, region, or other place
methodical (adjective)
careful
survival (noun)
the process of staying alive
Multiple Choice: Circle the letter of the choice the best completes the statement. (2 points each)
1. What is this article mainly about?
A. In the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, a tribe was
4. This article would be most useful as a source for a
student research project on __________.
found that is completely isolated from modern
A. The history of logging in North America
civilization.
B. Isolated populations in South America
B. Survival International is a support organization
for indigenous people in the Amazon.
C. Brazil's 1988 constitution declared that all
indigenous ancestral lands be turned over to
tribes within five years.
D. Speculation about an indigenous tribe was
C. Modern farming practices used in Brazil
D. American Indian tribes in the southern U.S.
5. In what way are the newly discovered indigenous
tribe and modern civilization similar?
A. They both feel threatened by hunting and
fishing.
triggered by satellite images showing three
B. They both live in straw-roofed buildings.
large clearings in an area of the Amazon
C. They both have strong immunities to diseases.
rainforest.
D. They both produce food by farming.
2. The reader can infer from the article that ________.
A. In the 1980s, some oil companies had not set
6. The article states: Fabricio Amorim is the FUNAI
coordinator for Vale do Javari. According to
policies to prevent contact with the indigenous
Amorim, at least 14 uncontacted tribes reside on
tribes.
the reservation. Officials believe that up to eight
B. The government of Brazil is wary about
recognizing the importance of protecting the
isolated tribes.
C. Indigenous populations in Brazil are
more tribes may also live in the area. Which would
be the closest synonym for the word reside?
A. Circulate
B. Dwell
unconcerned about who controls their ancestral
C. Suffer
lands, as long as they can still live there.
D. Triumph
D. All of the indigenous tribes in Brazil have been
7. The news article says all of the following except .
accidentally discovered by the government
A. The indigenous populations in Brazil have
while officials were looking for something else.
3. Which is the closest synonym for the word confirm?
A. Amend
B. Deny
C. Establish
D. Overcome
never been concerned about their land.
B. The oil companies and loggers are causing
various problems for the indigenous tribes.
C. The Brazilian government has worked to
confirm the existence of a newly found tribe.
D. The indigenous people found in 2011 have
never been contacted by anyone outside the
tribe.
8. The author's purpose for writing this article was
probably to __________.
A. Describe places where oil companies have
drilling operations in Brazil
B. Suggest that loggers could teach Brazilian
tribes how to build houses
Opinion Question:
C. Provide information about some indigenous
tribes in Brazil
D. Identify endangered animals and plants in the
rainforests of Brazil
Now that you have read the article, indicate in the space below whether you agree or
disagree with this statement. Do you think it's important to make sure that the uncontacted tribes in Brazil keep their
land? (5 points)
Thought Question: Consider the information in the article about the Brazil tribes and the other people in
Brazil. What are three conclusions that you can draw about their relationship? (5 points)
Math: An uncontacted tribe living in Brazil grows corn, bananas, and peanuts. Look at the picture of food below.
How many bunches of bananas can you buy for the same price as four jars of peanuts? _____________________