A young man from an isolated Indigenous tribe in Brazil’s Amazon approached a river community but chose to return to his people less than a day later, according to Brazilian officials. The encounter took place on Wednesday evening around 7 p.m. in Bela Rosa, a village along the Purus River in the southwest of the Amazon. Video footage shows the man barefoot, wearing a small loincloth, and appearing calm and healthy as he carried two logs.
Locals believe the young man was seeking fire, as a video captured by a smartphone shows one resident attempting to teach him how to use a lighter, though unsuccessfully. Officials from Brazil’s Indigenous affairs agency, Funai, arrived shortly after and took the man to a nearby facility for evaluation. In a statement released on Friday, Funai confirmed that the man returned to the forest on Thursday afternoon. They also mentioned that a team of health professionals was sent to check if he had been exposed to any diseases that isolated Indigenous tribes might be vulnerable to. Additionally, measures have been put in place to prevent others from reaching the tribe’s remote location.
Brazil’s policy is not to actively make contact with isolated Indigenous groups. Instead, the government sets up protected and monitored areas, like Mamoriá Grande, close to where the encounter took place.