Nowadays, every morning we get up, weĄ¯re reminded of the pandemic that the whole world is fighting against -- whether it's through news or even memes that try to make us smile through the ordeal of being locked indoors.
WeĄ¯re seeing so many cases piling up in every part of our world. This only makes us feel more anxious and fearful whether we will ever be able to live a normal life. However, COVID-19 hasnĄ¯t spread throughout the world. In fact, there are groups of people that donĄ¯t even know something like COVID-19 exists.?
Andaman Nicobar Islands to the East of our nation are known for two things -- Port Blair and the Sentinelese Tribe. While the whole nation has progressed to new heights, people in the Sentinelese Tribe still live their life like the man did thousands of years ago -- relying on hunting using bows and arrows.??
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They donĄ¯t like company and theyĄ¯ve been very clear about allowing the modern man to enter their regions. People who have tried to make contact with them have ended up dead. IndiaĄ¯s Dr Madhumala Chattopadhyay was the first woman to have gotten a chance to interact with the tribe and learn about their living, in the year 1991, before Indian visits to the island ceased in 1997. Even today, the Indian government doesnĄ¯t know about their actual population and puts the range between 55 to 200 individuals.
The Korowai Tribe belong from southeastern Papua, New Guinea and are known to mostly live in tree houses in jungles. The tribe didnĄ¯t think another civilization even existed until 1970. With a population ranging from 3,000 to 4,000, they too are hunters and gatherers but also participate in horticulture.?
TheyĄ¯re also known to be cannibalistic however theyĄ¯ve expressed that theyĄ¯re encouraging people to let go of the habit to promote tourism. They were first discovered by western anthropologists Peter Van Arsdale, geographer Robert Mitton and Mark Grundhoefer.?
The Masco-Piro tribe belongs to the South American region of Peru, near the remote area of the Amazon rainforest. Their population is just around 800. They were first discovered in 1894 when rubber-industry leader Carlos Fermin Fitzcarrald brutally attacked the tribe to get access to the trees in the forests.?
Today they stay hidden in their little world in Manu National Park in Peru. TheyĄ¯ve been known to keep their distance from civilization and have even been known to kill individuals who try to breach into their territory without their consent. However, recently, reports have surfaced that state that these groups are stepping out of the wilderness, asking for food, clothing and tools.?
Also known as arrow people, Flecheiros are located in the jungles of Brazil, in an area called the Javari valley. Not much is known about them, except for the fact that they are known to grow fruits as well as use bows with poisonous arrows to take down people who try to enter their lands.?
Sadly that hasnĄ¯t been enough for their safety. A few years ago, reports surfaced that gold miners in the region surrounding Brazil border and Peru were boasting about killing as many as 10 of these tribesmen, brutally cutting them and drowning them.
Even though most of these tribes are disconnected from the real world that doesnĄ¯t make them any safer than us. In fact, since their civilization is several steps behind than hours, they havenĄ¯t developed necessary immunity like our body has against something as simple as the common flu. Thus most organizations make it a point to limit contact with people of these tribes to not put them in danger.
In the case of COVID-19, a recent National Geographic report revealed how cases have emerged in certain Brazillian indigenous tribes that are in contact with the civilised world. According to the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), the countryĄ¯s principal indigenous federation, deaths from COVID-19 in indigenous communities have gone up from 46 in May to 262 in the first week of June.?
According to APIB, 9.1 percent of indigenous people who contract the disease are dying, nearly double the 5.2 percent rate among the general Brazilian population.