Yeah, unfortunately most of the media nowadays doesn't have time to investigate issues more than at the surface, so they often get things screwed up. If they had bothered to contact Survival International about the SI article that spurred the spurious media outcry they could have avoided their misunderstandings. SI even explains what uncontacted means and addresses other misconceptions at their Uncontacted Tribes website:
Questions and answers: uncontacted tribeshttp://www.uncontactedtribes.org/articles/3109-questions-and-answers-uncontacted-tribesSurvival answers commonly-asked questions about the world’s uncontacted tribesWhat are ‘undiscovered’ or ‘lost’ tribes?This is empty sensationalism. It’s extremely unlikely there are any tribes whose existence is totally unknown to anyone else.
What do you mean by ‘uncontacted’?Peoples who have no peaceful contact with anyone in the mainstream or dominant society. There are about 100 uncontacted tribes in the world.
Does that mean they have no contact with anyone else at all?No. Everyone has neighbours, even when they’re some distance away, and they’ll know who they are. If it’s another tribe, perhaps also uncontacted, they may or may not have friendly relations with them.
Myths Regarding Uncontacted Tribeshttp://www.uncontactedtribes.org/MYTH: They aren’t aware of the outside worldEveryone has neighbours, even when they’re some distance away, and they’ll know who they are. If it’s another tribe, they may or may not have friendly relations with them. And many uncontacted tribes have suffered appalling violence in the past from settlers.
MYTH: They are living in the ‘Stone Age’All peoples are changing all the time and always have, including uncontacted tribes. Survival doesn’t talk about ‘pristine’ tribes or cultures. They are not backward or ‘Stone Age’, they just live differently.
MYTH: Reports of uncontacted tribes are fakedSome ‘first contacts’ are acts for the benefit of tourists, but there are actually quite a lot of real uncontacted tribes, and more are ‘discovered’ all the time. Sometimes, they are surprisingly close to people who’ve been in contact for decades, or longer.
MYTH: They can’t be left alone foreverWhose choice should it be, theirs or ‘ours’? If a people chooses to make contact with wider society, they’ll find a way. The problem is that the belief that they are primitive and incapable of deciding for themselves is still widespread.
MYTH: If they are contacted, they can have the benefits of ‘our’ way of lifeThey won’t get the chance. In reality, the future offered by settler society is to ‘join’ at the lowest possible level – often as beggars and prostitutes. History proves that tribal peoples usually end up in a far worse state after contact, often dead.
At least the media are giving SI free publicity, which is helping raise awareness and funds for a good cause (
http://www.survivalinternational.org for UK donations and
info.usa@survivalinternational.org for USA donations). It's important that at least some of the peoples living relatively traditional lifestyles be allowed to continue to do so in order that the original human lifestyle is not lost forever and so we can learn from them and work to try to gradually restore the best and most practical of the old ways into our lives, the lives of other interested folks, and the lives of future generations.
