Last Uncontacted Tribes On Earth

We tend to think that every inch of land on the planet has been explored and charted. It comes as a surprise then to learn that there are still vast spaces where civilization has not penetrated. From the first uncontacted tribe ever caught on camera, to the story behind how a plane ended up peppered with arrows, let’s investigate the last uncontacted tribes on Earth.

Mashco-Piro

One of the most remote and dangerous places on Earth, the vast Amazon rainforest has long been a source of beauty, intrigue, and, above all, mystery. But in July 2024, something extraordinary happened that shocked the world. From deep within the Amazon’s untamed depths, a large group of uncontacted tribespeople emerged, marking the first such appearance in years. But who are they, and why have they revealed themselves now?

Meet the Mashco-Piro. With an estimated population of over 750, they are believed to be the largest uncontacted tribe on Earth. But what exactly does it mean if a tribe is uncontacted?

Sometimes called isolated or lost, uncontacted tribes are indigenous groups that choose to remain totally cut off from the outside world, even if they’ve had minor contact in the past. These brief encounters are often why these tribes actively avoid interacting with outsiders, and many of these meetings haven’t gone so well with the fascinating Mashco-Piro.

These folks live deep in the rainforests of southeastern Peru, near the borders with Brazil and Bolivia, in an area called the Uncontacted Frontier. This region is known for having more uncontacted tribes than anywhere else on Earth. They’ve survived by living as nomadic hunter-gatherers, moving through the dense jungle, constructing simple palm leaf huts along the banks of rivers, and retreating deep into the forest during the rainy season, avoiding flooding.

What little we know about the Mashco-Piro comes from their Yine neighbors, who say their uncontacted kin whistle like birds as a warning before emerging to collect turtle eggs or gather riverbank fruits and vegetables. We know nothing specific about the Mashco-Piro's beliefs, but given their Yine relatives are known to value spiritual remedies for life’s problems, there’re likely some overlapping beliefs with the Mashco-Piro.

While the Mashco-Piro undoubtedly live a life shaped by the rhythms of the jungle, their history is far from peaceful. The origins of the tribe’s isolation is rooted in one of the darkest periods in Amazonian history: the Rubber Boom of the late 1800s. During this time, rubber barons swept through the region, enslaving indigenous tribes to harvest latex from rubber trees.

Members of the Mascho-Piro that managed to evade enslavement faced a brutal choice: subjugation or escape. Choosing freedom, they retreated into the most remote parts of the jungle to escape the horrors of the rubber plantations and have remained there ever since.

So why are they emerging now? Since 2002, the Peruvian government has sold off nearly 200-square-miles of the Mashco-Piro’s ancestral lands to logging companies, who are rapidly cutting away at the tribe's forest sanctuary. As the loggers encroach, sightings of the Mashco-Piro have become more frequent, with this latest appearance recorded along the Las Piedras River, just miles from active logging sites.

In efforts to protect their land, the tribe has occasionally clashed with those threatening their home, resulting in deaths, injuries, and missing persons on the side of the loggers.

While Peru's government has officially banned contact with the Mashco-Piro, human rights organizations are calling for a complete halt to logging in the region and urging the government to establish a protected zone to safeguard the tribe’s home and habitat. For now, the Mashco-Piro continue to fight for their survival, defending their land against an ever-advancing world.

Fleicheros, The Arrow People

While some uncontacted tribes, like the Mashco-Piro, have been clearly identified despite their mysterious nature, others remain harder to pin down. It’s estimated that, elsewhere in the Amazon, there are more than 100 unidentified tribes that remain uncontacted.

One such tribe that we know very little about, other than their existence, are known as the Fleicheros. Known locally as the "Arrow People", this elusive tribe are believed to live along the Jandiatuba River in the Javari Valley. Little is known about them beyond their skill with arrows. Which brings us to the photo below of a Piper Comanche.

Could arrows really pierce the underside of a plane like this? It sounds wild, but maybe not as impossible as it seems. And are the Fleicheros responsible? Let’s investigate. First off, these arrows are long. And some tribes are known to use longbows with arrows between four and seven feet in length. Looking at the footage and images we have of the Fleicheros, these definitely look like they could fall into that range.

Here’s where it gets interesting: steel-tipped arrows pierced metal armor in medieval battles. And modern planes? They’re mostly made of aluminum, which is softer than steel. And yes, some tribes do use steel-tipped arrows. So technically, a well-aimed arrow could pierce through a plane’s hull.

But then the real question is: could an arrow even reach a flying aircraft? Most light planes fly no lower than 500 feet, especially over areas with tall trees like the forestlands of uncontacted tribes. That’s right near the upper limit of how high a longbow arrow can travel. So, while it might just reach, it probably wouldn’t have enough force to do real damage.

But here’s the twist: what if the plane was flying lower than it should have been? Maybe to get clearer photos or video of the tribespeople? If that’s the case, then it’s possible an arrow could hit, and maybe even penetrate, on a lucky shot.

One big clue that something’s off, though? There are no shattered arrow shafts. You’d expect at least a few to break on impact or snap during landing. As it turns out, the plane is actually part of an art exhibit in Buenos Aires. It’s called Avio, created by the artist collective Los Carpinteros who say it’s a symbol of modernization, and if nothing else, it got people talking about indigenous issues, which has to be a win.

Back to the Fleicheros, while they weren’t the ones behind the arrow-ridden plane, we do know they’ve attempted to shoot at planes passing over their lands. Aerial photos from 2008 revealed they often cover themselves in body paint.

While the cultural significance of the paint and the meaning of different colors remain a mystery, many indigenous groups around the world use body painting to symbolize animals, indicate the start of a hunt, or for spiritual celebration, among many other reasons.

There has been no officially-confirmed contact with the tribe, however, some disturbing rumors of encounters with them have emerged. In 2017, locals reported encountering two illegal gold miners in local bars bragging about causing the tribe's extinction, details of which are too shocking.

Unfortunately, the truth behind this alleged tragedy is likely to remain vague. As any potential survivors would be unable, or unwilling, to speak to Brazilian authorities, invaders like these feel they can get away with most everything when it comes to their actions on uncontacted tribes’ territory.

While it’s reported the two men were arrested for their claims, sadly, it seems there’s been no confirmation that the Fleicheros even remain. Hopefully, they’ve simply retreated deeper into the Amazon, and continue to avoid detection.

Shompen

Moving away from the Amazon for a moment, another isolated tribe facing threats from modernization is the Shompen of Great Nicobar Island, India. Numbering around 300, the majority of this Indigenous group remain uncontacted, refusing any interaction with outsiders whether well-intended or not.

As nomadic hunter-gatherers, the Shompen traverse the rainforests that cover 95% of the 350-square-mile island, living off the land. They’re known to gather various rainforest flora and fauna, with their staple food being Hala; a strange, segmented fruit said to bear a sweet tropical flavor. The tribe also hunts animals like monkeys, pigs and even crocodiles. As for cultural practices, experts believe the Shompen worship the moon, which they believe to be responsible for the creation of the universe.

While a few Shompen have occasional contact with neighboring Indigenous tribes, most remain in the rainforest and reject outside contact. The Indian government’s attempts to reach them have often ended in violence, with reports of the tribe defending their territory by hurling spears at intruders. But it seems the government aren’t willing to simply leave the Shompen alone.

In 2022, the Indian government announced a plan to transform the Shompen’s small island home into what’s been described as the new Hong Kong of India. If the project goes ahead, the vast majority of the Shompen’s rainforest home is set to be destroyed and replaced by a new city, airport, $9 billion mega-port and power station as well as 650,000 settlers.

As the Shompen rely on the rainforest for their survival, activists have pointed out that destroying their environment will likely end in the tribe’s demise. Moreover, having been isolated from the outside world for so long, experts believe the Shompen could die from diseases they have no natural immunity to, if they come into contact with the new settlers.

And so, as the modern world encroaches, the Shompen’s future may depend not just on their isolation, but on our willingness to let them be.

The Sentinelese

Off the coast of Myanmar, the dense jungle of North Sentinel Island conceals one of the world’s most enigmatic and infamous mysteries: the Sentinelese tribe. Thought to be directly descended from the first humans to leave Africa, experts believe the Sentinelese have lived on North Sentinel for 60,000 years, dating back to the Stone Age.

Little is known about their culture, but they maintain a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, surviving through hunting wild pigs and birds, and foraging fruits and root-vegetables, rather than farming. The tribe uses boats to hunt for seafood on the reef, and photos reveal a variety of weapons suited for jungle hunting.

Though only 5 miles long and 4 miles wide, this seemingly insignificant island has garnered global fascination as the most forbidden island on the planet. The first recorded sighting came in 1771 when an East India Company vessel spotted manmade firepits along the shore. True interaction didn’t occur until 1867, when the ship Nineveh wrecked on the reefs.

The 106 stranded crew members initially thought they had landed in a peaceful paradise, but a few days later, Sentinelese warriors launched a fierce attack, forcing the crew to defend themselves with makeshift weapons against iron-tipped arrows until the Royal Navy rescued them. The encounter sparked global fascination with these isolated islanders.

In 1880, British officer Maurice Vidal Portman led an expedition to the island, capturing six Sentinelese, two elders and four children, to learn more about the tribe. However, the isolated people had no immunity to common infectious diseases, and the two elders died shortly after being taken.

Portman, in a panic, returned the terrified children to the island, along with gifts to smooth relations. This ill-fated attempt to study the Sentinelese left a legacy of misunderstanding, mistrust, and unintended consequences.

After a small number of additionally unpleasant encounters, by 1956, the Indian government, under the Protection of Aboriginal Tribes Act, banned all attempts to approach North Sentinel Island and other tribal communities in the surrounding Andaman Islands.

But in the 1960s, anthropologists proposed new plans to connect with the Sentinelese. In 1967, Indian anthropologist Triloknath Pandit became the first to land there, with permission from authorities. But to his dismay, the Sentinelese aggressively rejected initial efforts to engage, forcing him to flee in a shower of arrows from the treeline.

But he didn’t give up. Over the next 20 years, Pandit led several expeditions, but the Sentinelese remained elusive, observing from a distance or vanishing into the jungle whenever approached. Still, Pandit was unperturbed. After countless attempts, a breakthrough came in 1991. As Pandit’s boat floated offshore, a group of Sentinelese emerged from the tree line and waded into the water.

Pandit’s team met them with coconuts, which they accepted. For the first time, the Sentinelese interacted with researchers in a way that defied their previous hostility, appearing as curious, cautious people engaging with the world on their own terms.

In the years after, the Sentinelese were largely left in peace. Even the Indian government, after the 2004 tsunami, avoided traveling to the island, only sending helicopters to check if the tribe had survived. As a helicopter approached, a lone Sentinelese warrior emerged, bow in hand, and fired arrows at the aircraft, confirming the tribe was still alive-and-kicking. Then, in 2006, two fisherman illegally approached the island in hopes of poaching lobster, only to meet yet another arrow-ridden end.

The island remained quiet until 2018, when the Sentinelese made headlines again. In November, 26-year-old American missionary John Allen Chau illegally ventured to North Sentinel Island, determined to convert the tribe to Christianity.

According to his diary, on November 14th, he set out for the island with fishermen he had paid to transport him. The next day, he approached the shore by kayak, offering gifts but retreating when a boy shot an arrow into his Bible.

On November 16th, the fishermen dropped him off on the island one final time. He never made it home. Since then, the Indian government has reinforced the ban on visiting the island, with regular patrols ensuring no one comes too close.

Today, life on North Sentinel remains a mystery. The exact population is estimated to be between 50 and 200, but no one knows the language they speak, their laws, or what the tribe is called in their own tongue. From passing boats and aircraft, glimpses of their existence occasionally appear.

Man of the Hole

While uncontacted tribes strive to remain cut off from the rest of the world, their internal tribe solidarity and loyalty can’t be doubted. But in the Amazon rainforest, one isolated tribe stood on the brink of extinction when it was discovered that just one single member remained.

So named for his habit of constructing deep holes around his territory, the Man of the Hole was the last surviving member of a much larger tribe. But just how did he end up all by himself? And what happened to the rest of his people?

While experts aren’t sure exactly of the name of the tribe the Man of the Hole comes from, they do know the group lived hidden deep within the dense, untamed heart of Rondônia State in the western Brazilian Amazon. For generations, they fiercely resisted every attempt at contact with the outside world, guarding their secluded way of life. But their land was coveted by outsiders, who saw it not as sacred, but as a prize to be claimed.

The tribe's ordeal with invaders started in the 1970s, when farmers began advancing on their ancestral land. But the real tragedy came in the 1980s when illegal ranchers wanting to expand their land came with what appeared to be gifts of sugar for the tribe.

However, the seemingly sweet offering was laced with rat poison, resulting in just six members of the tribe surviving the ordeal. In 1995, another vicious attack came from illegal miners, but this time with bullets. In the end only one remained: the Man of the Hole.

It wasn't until a year later, in 1996, that the world learned the Man of the Hole had survived the ordeal, when a documentary team traveled through the Amazon to investigate the incident. Over the years, Brazil’s Indigenous Affairs department, known as ‘FUNAI’, attempted to contact the man with representatives from neighboring tribes in an effort to learn more about his people.

But the man of the hole, likely traumatized by his past experience with outsiders, refused to engage, and hid away in his self-built house. Feeling threatened, he made his preferences known one time in 2005, when he successfully shot an arrow at FUNAI staff attempting to make contact.

In response, FUNAI cancelled all future plans to engage with the man, and instead extended his designated territory, meaning he could live on without disturbance. All went quiet until 2018 when footage of the man, reportedly shot in 2011, circulated online. But the question was: was the Man of the Hole still alive and well?

Sadly, on August 23rd, 2022 the Man of the Hole was found to have passed away in a hammock inside one of his makeshift straw huts. With no sign of violence or any interference from outsiders, experts concluded that he’d died of natural causes at an estimated age of around 60.

While the death of the Man of the Hole sadly marked the definitive end of his tribe without revealing any details about them, it's comforting to know that his life came to a peaceful end far from the prying eyes he’d always endeavored to avoid.

Huaorani

While some tribes choose isolation from the outside world, a few have evolved in ways that set them apart entirely, shaping their very biology to suit a life unlike anything close to our own.

Located in the upper Amazon basin of Ecuador, the Huaorani tribe are split into various clans living in voluntary isolation, maintaining a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. The Huaorani primarily hunt monkeys and other small animals as their major food source, by climbing trees and using spears and poison-dart blow-guns.

Due to their longstanding practice of tree climbing, there is evidence the Huaorani people experience physiological adaptations in their feet that develop as they age. It’s thought the near-constant barefoot exposure to rough terrains, and the need to constantly climb trees, flattens their feet and splays their toes over time, allowing for easier grip.

Some Huaorani have even been reported as possessing six toes on each foot, as well as six fingers on each hand. This genetic quirk may have passed more quickly on through their relatively small population of a few thousand individuals, and may provide more stability, and possibly even superior climbing grip, to those possessing it.

For hundreds of years, the Huaorani lived in isolation from the outside world with no confirmed instances of contact. That was until January 1956, when five American Christian missionaries attempted to meet the isolated Huaorani tribe, with disastrous consequences. The missionaries initially dropped gifts from a plane to establish goodwill and set up a camp along the Curaray River. But a few days later, Huaorani warriors attacked, and all five men perished.

Despite the tragic outcome, the event did not mark the end of efforts to establish friendly contact with the Huaorani. Several of the wives and relatives of the missionaries later returned to the area in a bid to continue the work of their loved ones.

Over time, relations between the Huaorani and the outside world gradually improved. Today, many Huaorani have moved away from their traditional nomadic lifestyle and now live in permanent forest settlements, though still continue the practice of tree-climbing.

However, some smaller sub-groups, like the Tagaeri and Taromenane in Yasuni National Park, continue to reject outside contact. Efforts to reach these isolated communities have often led to violence, with fatalities of outsiders who were perceived as threats by the tribespeople reported in 2003 and 2008.

Although the Ecuadorian government designated the largely untouched southern part of Yasuni National Park as a no-go zone in 1999, the nomadic, uncontacted tribes reportedly remain unaware of these boundaries. As a result, they could unknowingly wander into unprotected territory at any time, with potentially disastrous consequences.

Moxihatetema

The daily lives of uncontacted tribes are often shrouded in mystery, with only limited glimpses into how they survive in isolation. However, one elusive group’s inadvertent connection to the outside world leaves enough traces to offer some clues into their reclusive lifestyle.

This aerial image, taken in 2016, captures the rarely seen Moxihatetema, an uncontacted branch of the wider Yanomami tribe.

The Yanomami people reside in the Orinoco River Basin of the Amazon Rainforest between Southern Venezuela and Northern Brazil. While there are around 45,000 Yanomami, they are split into various separate communities all run independently of one another.

The Yanomami first had sustained contact with outsiders in the 1940s, when Brazil sent teams to establish the Venezuela border. Today, most communities maintain some kind of contact with the outside world, with the Moxihatetema being among the rare exceptions. Not only that, but the Moxihatetema also refuse contact with other Yanomami.

Despite the Moxihatetema's isolated existence, experts have inferred some aspects of their cultural practices from what is known about the broader Yanomami community, beginning with their architecture. Like the Moxihatetema, the Yanomami live in large, circular, communal enclosures called yanos. Each family has its own hearth and living space around the outside of the yanos, while the center is used for communal activities like rituals and feasts.

The Yanomami's connection to the spirit world is also vital to their daily lives. They believe that every rock, tree, and animal harbors a spirit, some friendly and others evil. To maintain harmony with these entities, Yanomami shamans use a spiritual medicine called yakoana, which induces a trance-like state. In this altered state, shamans communicate with the spirits, seeking to placate darker forces and restore balance in their world.

Like many indigenous tribes in South America, the Yanomami’s territory has been affected by encroaching miners who’ve identified their land as prime goldmine country, and sadly this extends to the Moxihatetema. While the Moxihatetema still reject contact even with other Yanomami groups, the broader Yanomami community that has engaged with the outside world continues to advocate for the rights and welfare of their uncontacted relatives. Hopefully it proves enough to protect their more isolated kin.

Korubo

Invasions of uncontacted tribes’ lands are often driven by greed from loggers, ranchers, miners and oil companies. However, authorities sometimes attempt contact for less harmful reasons. In Brazil, the Indigenous Affairs department, FUNAI, is responsible for initiating contact with isolated tribes facing imminent risk from potentially dangerous outsiders. The Korubo are one such tribe.

Like the Fleicheros, the Korubo live deep within the Javari Valley in the Amazon. However, unlike the Arrow People, the Korubo's weapon of choice has earned them some more unsettling nicknames: the "clubbers," or even more chillingly, the "head-bashers." These nicknames stem from the tribe’s use of long wooden clubs.

While estimates of the Korubo’s population varies, there are thought to be up to 500 people in the tribe overall. However, there have been some smaller groups who have isolated themselves from the rest. In 1996, FUNAI learned that 24 Korubo had split from the main tribe and unknowingly moved toward an area where armed loggers had invaded.

Fearing a dangerous encounter, FUNAI decided to attempt contact for their safety. After setting up camp, the team waited, unsure if or how the Korubo would meet them, whether with openness or aggression. After months of uncertainty, a few Korubo cautiously emerged from the forest to meet the outsiders. This historic moment marked the first peaceful, filmed initial contact with an isolated tribe, with no injuries on either side.

Since then, some Korubo have shown a willingness to engage with visitors. More recently, in 2019, FUNAI officials were able to make brief contact with yet another small group of around 34 that had isolated themselves from the rest. This time, the tribe were even open to receiving vaccinations, highlighting a shift in their interaction with the outside world.

Hongana Manyawa, The People Of The Forest

Nestled in the rainforests on the small island of Halmahera, the Hongana Manyawa, also known as the People of the Forest are one of the last hunter-gatherer tribes in Indonesia. While many Hongana Manyawa have been contacted since the 1980s, around 300 to 500 members of the tribe are thought to remain completely uncontacted.

The Hongana Manyawa people are nomadic, and survive by setting up temporary camps before moving on and allowing the area to regrow. The Hongana Manyawa traditionally believe trees have souls and emotions just like us humans do, meaning they avoid cutting down trees for shelter and instead craft homes from sticks and leaves. When they do need to harvest from the root, they perform special rituals to ask the trees for their permission before using their resources.

For the Hongana Manyawa, their forest is the centerpiece of their lives, from birth to death. When a child is born, the family plant a tree which grows alongside the child as they mature. At the end of their lives, the Hongana Manyawa’s remains are placed inside their personal trees in a special area of the forest that is reserved for the spirits.

Yet, unbeknownst to the tribe, the land they call home also happens to be one of the world’s largest reserves of nickel, which is valued for its use in electric car batteries.

The potential destruction of these trees to clear mining land is argued to be a huge violation of the tribe’s way of life. This rarely captured footage shot in 2021 shows two Hongana Manyawa defiantly waving their weapons as they watch invaders cut down part of their sacred forest.

Activists argue that the mining companies encroaching on the uncontacted Hongana Manyawa's land are violating international laws, particularly because the tribespeople have not consented to the destruction of their territory.

In an effort to quote-unquote 'civilize' the Hongana Manyawa, the Indonesian government has tried to persuade the uncontacted members of the tribe to relocate to pre-built villages, once again ignoring their wish to remain undisturbed in their forest home. While the battle over their island’s nickel is ongoing, there’s no doubting the Hongana Manyawa’s nerves of pure steel to protect their ancient way of living.

Korowai

While many isolated tribes, like the Sentinelese, reject most interaction with outsiders, a few have managed to maintain their one-of-a-kind ancestral ways while also allowing some outside interaction. One such tribe is the Korowai, who dwell deep within the rainforests of West Papua, Indonesia.

According to records, the Korowai remained largely unknown to the world until 1978, when Dutch missionary Johannes Veldhuizen encountered them while exploring. Since their discovery, some Korowai have been receptive to interactions with outsiders such as missionaries, anthropologists and even on occasion, tourists taking part in specially guided treks. However, there are still many Korowai who choose to live in complete isolation, avoiding all outside contact.

Traditional Korowai generally live in small clans consisting of up to 20 people and roam their forest as nomadic hunter-gatherers. They typically settle near sago trees which are a centerpiece of Korowai culture. The tree’s center is filled with a starchy core which is harvested and turned into flour and the grubs living on the plant provide a side dish of protein. After depleting the sago trees around their camp, the clan moves on.

But the Korowai tribe don’t just live far away from modern society, they live above it too. The annual rainfall in the Korowai’s lowland rainforest territory averages at 150 to 200 inches per year, making it one of the wettest places on earth. So, to protect themselves from flooding, the tribe live in treehouses, some as high as 140 feet off the ground, though it’s suspected some of the tallest were built more to impress outsiders than for everyday living.

These treehouses are also thought to help the tribe avoid evil spirits which they believe dwell on the ground. But their spiritual beliefs about these spirits go even further.

Because traditional Korowai have little to no knowledge of germs, some believe deaths from illness are caused by evil spirits known as khakhua. These spirits, who take the form of tribespeople, cause their victims to fall ill. If the sickness turns fatal, the tribe will seize the person suspected to be the khakhua who caused the illness and it’s cooked khakhua on the dinner menu that night.

While some reports suggest this practice is fading, especially among those who interact with outsiders, it seems likely there are still some groups out there who still have an appetite for it. I don’t know about you, but as amazing as it would be to meet the Korowai, knowledge of that is enough for me to leave them alone!

I hope you were amazed at the last uncontacted tribes on Earth! Thanks for reading.