Now, federal prosecutors in Brazil have opened an investigation into the reported massacre of about 10 members of the tribe, the latest evidence that threats to endangered indigenous groups are on the rise in the country. 'We'd rather die than lose': villagers in Indonesia fight for a land rights revolution Read more

Pablo Beltrand, the prosecutor from the remote Amazon town of Tabatinga – near the Peruvian border and 700 miles from the Amazonas state capital, Manaus – said his team was first informed about the possible murders in the Javari Valley at the beginning of August. The miners later boasted about the slaughter at a bar in the nearest town, and even showed off a hand-carved paddle they claimed to have stolen as a trophy. Leila Sotto-Maior, coordinator for isolated and recently contacted Indians at Funai, said the men had brandished a paddle and a small bag used for carrying food that they claimed they had taken from their victims. The Javari Valley, the area of the alleged killings, is known as the Uncontacted Frontier, and includes more uncontacted tribes than anywhere on earth, Survival Unlimited said. Those killed were part of one of 103 tribes in Brazil regarded as "uncontacted," defined by the London-based activist organization Survival Unlimited as having "no peaceful contact with anyone in the mainstream or dominant society." Miners routinely encroach on the tribal lands, and land disputes have led to the deaths of at least 50 indigenous tribe members, rural workers and land activists through the first seven months of the year, Brazil's Land Pastoral Commission said.
Brazil is to investigate the supposed murder of ten members of an Amazonian tribe in the Javari Valley.