• Brazil tribe honors anthropologist 15 years after his death

    Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

    Yawalapiti men play bamboo flutes during the celebration of this year's 'quarup,' a ritual held over several days to honor in death a person of great importance to them, in the Xingu National Park, Mato Grosso State, Brazil, on August 14, 2012.

    Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

    A Yawalapiti man, right, greets a man from another tribe who arrived to attend the 'quarup,' on August 19, 2012.

    Reuters photographer Ueslei Marcelino documented the Yawalapiti tribe from Brazil's Xingu National Park taking part in their quarup ritual earlier this month. The ritual is held over several days to honor in death a person of great importance to the tribe. 

    This year the tribe honored two people — a Yawalapiti Indian who they consider a great leader, and Darcy Ribeiro, a well-known author, anthropologist and politician. Ribeiro, who was known for focusing on the relationship between native peoples and education and founded the nation's Indian Museum in 1953, died in 1997. 

    Read more about the Yawalapiti at the Indigenous Peoples in Brazil website.

    Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

    Yawalapiti men carry tree trunks that will represent distinguished people who have recently died, during the 'quarup' on August 18, 2012.

    Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

    Yawalapiti people observe events at the 'quarup' on August 18, 2012.

    Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

    Yawalapiti men wrestle as part of the 'quarup' events on August 19, 2012.

    Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

    Yawalapiti men use digital cameras to record a moment during the 'quarup' on August 15, 2012.

    Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

    A view of the Yawalapiti village at night on August 12, 2012.

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  • Arrows fly as tribal clashes break out in Indonesia's Papua

    Tjahjono Eranius / AFP - Getty Images

    Papuan tribal warriors armed with bows and arrows and improvised shields move into position as clashes erupted anew between two tribes in Kwamki Lama village in Mimikaa, a district located in Indonesia's restive Papua province, on June 18, 2012.

    Agence France Presse reports — Two tribesmen were killed, one critically injured and several policemen injured while three police vehicles were torched as tribal clashes erupted in Indonesia's restive Papua province on Monday.

    Police and military troops were overwhelmed by the fighting, which was sparked by the death of a tribesman in a road accident in early June.  

    Related content:

    Tjahjono Eranius / AFP - Getty Images

    A phalanx of armed police blockade a road while a police vehicle burns in the background in Kwamki Lama on June 18, 2012.

    Tjahjono Eranius / AFP - Getty Images

    An injured Papuan tribal warrior pierced by an arrow is aided by tribesmen in Kwamki Lama on June 18, 2012.

     

  • Arnulfo Franco / AP

    Protesters from the Ngobe-Bugle tribe block a road during a protest over mineral exploitation on their lands, in El Vigui, Panama, on Feb. 2, 2012.

    Indians block Panama roads in dispute over mining

    The Associated Press reports from PANAMA CITY:

    Members of an Indian tribe in Panama are blocking roads in two provinces on the border with Costa Rica in a dispute over mineral exploitation on their lands.

    Protesters from the Ngobe-Bugle tribe have been manning roadblocks of stones and branches set up Monday in Bocas del Toro and Chiriqui in western Panama. They have also closed sections of road in Veraguas province. Continue reading.

  • Mashco-Piro Indian tribe's survival threatened in Peru

    Diego Cortijo / Survival International via AFP - Getty Images

    A photo released by the Survival International organization on Jan. 31, 2012 of what they describe as being uncontacted members of a family from the Mashco-Piro tribe somewhere in the southeastern Peruvian jungle. According to Survival International, illegal logging displaces the indians from their homes.

    Gabriella Galli / AFP - Getty Images

    A photo released by the Survival International organization on Jan. 31 of what they describe as being members of the Mashco-Piro tribe near the Manu National Park in the southeastern Peruvian jungle. According to Survival International, illegal logging displaces the indians from their homes.

     AP Reports:

    LIMA, Peru — Peruvian authorities say they are struggling to keep outsiders away from a clan of previously isolated Amazon Indians who began appearing on the banks of a jungle river popular with environmental tourists last year.

    The behavior of the small group of Mashco-Piro Indians has puzzled scientists, who say it may be related to the encroachment of loggers and by low-flying aircraft from nearby natural gas and oil exploration in the southeastern region of the country.

    Clan members have been blamed for two bow-and-arrow attacks on people near the riverbank in Madre de Dios state where officials say the Indians were first seen last May.

    Click here to read more on how pressure from loggers may be threatening the Mashco-Piro Indian's survival.

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  • Papuan tribesmen show off their culture at annual Lake Sentani festival

    Romeo Gacad / AFP - Getty Images

    Papuan tribesmen ride a ceremonial boat during the Lake Sentani festival located in Indonesia's eastern Papua province on June 20. For decades, the only foreign visitors to venture into Papua were gold-diggers, anthropologists, missionaries and soldiers fighting imperial wars. But the vast, western half of New Guinea is slowly opening its doors to tourists as a "hidden paradise", a land of ancient tribal cultures, glittering reefs, soaring glaciers and teeming wildlife. The annual festival brings together thousands of people from 24 communities scattered around the huge lake.

    Romeo Gacad / AFP - Getty Images

    A tribesman uses a shell as a horn during the Lake Sentani festival.

    Romeo Gacad / AFP - Getty Images

    Papuan tribal houses are built on stilts on the edge of Lake Sentani, the site of annual festival.

     

  • Ricardo Moraes / Reuters

    A boy of the Kayapo tribe plays in front of his house on the second day of a medical expedition of the "Expedicionarios da Saude" (Brazilian Health Expeditions) in Kikretum community in Sao Felix, northern Brazil, April 22. The medical expedition of volunteer doctors comes twice a year to build a mobile hospital and provide clinical and surgical treatment for indigenous tribes and residents from different parts of the amazon rainforest.

    Boy on a swing in Brazil

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  • Indigenous people protest construction of enormous dam in Brazil's Amazon basin

    Here's a wikipedia article on the tribe, the dam project, and a story about the controversy.

    Eraldo Peres / AP

    A member of the Kaiapo tribe holds a poster showing a picture of Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff during a protest by indigenous communities against the construction of Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in front the National Congress in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday Feb. 8, 2011. A Brazilian environmental agency has given approval for initial work to begin on a massive hydroelectric dam planned for the heart of the Amazon jungle. The 11,000-megawatt project to dam the Xingu River, which feeds the Amazon, would be the third-largest such hydroelectric project in the world. The poster reads "Stop Belo Monte" and the number 604,317 refers to the number of people they say have signed a petition against the project." (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

    EVARISTO SA / AFP - Getty Images

    Natives from the Caiapo's tribe take part in a protest in front of the National Congress in Brasilia against the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in the Amazonian Xingu River on February 08, 2011.

    Eraldo Peres / AP

    Kaiapo Indian Chief Raony has his face painted with traditional markings during a protest against the construction of Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday Feb. 8, 2011. A Brazilian environmental agency has given approval for initial work to begin on a massive hydroelectric dam planned for the heart of the Amazon jungle. The 11,000-megawatt project to dam the Xingu River, which feeds the Amazon, would be the third-largest such hydroelectric project in the world. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)