#korubos

A team of nearly two dozen sponsored by the FUNAI agency headed up the Coari River over the weekend looking for the group of at least 22 people who are members of the widespread Korubo indigenous community and live in the Javari valley, in the northern state of Amazonas. Brazil’s army, federal police and health ministry are backing the initiative, which could take weeks.

The last time FUNAI organized such a big expedition was in 1996, also in that region. The Javari valley, an area of more than 8 million hectares (nearly 31,000 square miles), or bigger than Hungary, is home to the biggest concentration of isolated indigenous peoples in Brazil, amounting to at least 11 groups.

The initiative is the agency’s first major operation during the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain who pledged to stop demarcation of indigenous lands and allow miners to operate in their lands.

Brazilian law says that contact with isolated tribes can be used only as a last resort to preserve their lives. Bruno Pereira, FUNAI’s coordinator for isolated indigenous peoples who is leading the expedition, said the objective is to ease tensions between the isolated group of Korubos and a group of indigenous Matis who live about 12 miles (20 kilometers) away.

The Matis contacted the Korubos in 2013, initially in a friendly manner, but in the following year there was a deadly clash between the two groups, FUNAI said. After that incident, some of the Korubos migrated from the area, and reported that those who stayed mistakenly believed their relatives had been killed by the Matis. Some of the Korubos who left are in FUNAI’s expedition.

Pereira said the Matis have repeatedly requested an intervention of Brazil’s government because they believe the isolated Korubos will want revenge soon.

This region, which has the largest number of isolated indigenous peoples in the Amazon, was invaded by gunmen at the beginning of the week.

The Brazilian National Indian Foundation (Funai) announced on Monday that it requested the presence of Brazil’s Military Police and Army working in the Amazon region after armed men attacked a base designated to protect isolated indigenous communities in the Vale do Javari, in the western part of Amazonas state, near the Peruvian border.

“FUNAI reports invaders exchanged gunshots with the police and targeted a FUNAI boat, putting indigenous, FUNAI employees and police at risk,” said the statement issued by the foundation.

According to FUNAI, this particular indigenous land has the largest number of isolated indigenous peoples in the region. Acknowledging that some indigenous tribes do not want interaction with the outside world, FUNAI and the Brazilian government stated that they only seek contact when the survival of these groups is severely threatened.