An investigation is underway into the alleged murder of 10 uncontacted indigenous tribesmen in Brazil by gold miners, who were overheard bragging about the massacre over a month ago.

The incident is alleged to have occurred in the Javari Valley located in the remote west, the second largest indigenous territory in Brazil. The valley contains some of the highest numbers of uncontacted indigenous people in the world, and little information is known about them.

Despite indigenous tribes’ protection under the Brazilian Constitution, there have already been numerous murders of tribesmen this year. Funai, the National Indian foundation of Brazil and government body responsible for establishing policy towards indigenous people, recognizes 14 uncontacted tribes living mostly in the Western Amazon regions of the country.

Upper school Spanish teacher Carmela Tejada, of Peruvian origin, believes that the exploitation of indigenous people has been perpetual since the start of the European presence in South America.

“From the moment the Spaniards came to South and Central America, [indigenous exploitation] has been a pattern,” Tejada said. “That continues today at a different scale, but you can see the peasants work a lot in the Andean region of Peru, for example, and have to work for the landowners, live in difficult life conditions and get little pay.”

These alleged murders come after severe budget cuts to Funai that forced it to close several bases meant to protect indigenous people in the Javari Valley earlier this year.

In a statement released by Amnesty International to the Winged Post, the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI), an organization that works to regain indigenous lands and rights, expressed disapproval of the cut funds.

“The Javari Valley has one of the greatest concentrations of uncontacted indigenous people in the world,” the statement said. “By cutting funds for FUNAI, Temer’s government has disorganized and limited the resources the outposts have.”

Illegal gold mining is extremely common in the Northwest Amazon region of Brail. Miners oftentimes use highly toxic mercury to separate gold from dirt.

Mercury, according to a government-backed survey, spread to villages and rivers, creating unhealthy living conditions. Thousands of hectares of jungle have also been cut down as a result of illegal gold mining.

“Recently, the illegal [gold] extraction has intensified in the area around the Indigenous Land Javari Valley, as no state action to prevent or stop such activity was taken,” the same CIMI statement said.

Carl Soderbergh is the director of policy and communications and Minority Rights International, an organization dedicated to making the voices of indigenous peoples heard. He believes that the tribes should simply be left undisturbed but also that it is becoming harder and harder.

“I think the most important principle regarding uncontacted tribes is that outsiders should not initiate contact so that the tribes are left in peace and quiet to live as they will,” Soderbergh said. “It has to be according to their own free will, that they take up contact with the outside world and not that the outside world imposes contact upon them.”

This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on October 12, 2017.