Amazon Indians from one of the world's last uncontacted tribes have been photographed from the air. The images have been released this week in an effort to raise awareness about the importance of protecting such indigenous groups. The pictures unveiled by Survival International, a London-based indigenous rights group, were taken in the northern Brazilian state of Roraima by the Hutukara Yanomami Association. The photographs show several thatched huts, built in a circle, deep in the jungle. This tribe was last spotted in 1985 in Roraima state, according to the Socio-Environmental Affairs Institute (ISA), an aide group that works to protect indigenous groups in the country. About 32,000 Yanomami live in the Venezuela-Brazil border region and form the largest relatively isolated tribe in the Amazon. ISA's coordinator and head of the Pro-Yanomami Commission, Marcos Wesley, said their main concern is the proximity of illegal gold miners who represent a risk to these Indians. Wesley added that the government is taking little action to stop illegal gold miners from harming these isolated tribes. "We also work to give warnings about the presence of gold miners. And to warn about the lack of effective measures to put an end to (illegal) gold mining, which we have noticed has been increasing over the past two years at a frightening speed. The warnings are always passed on to the responsible (government) units, but the actions they take are far from being enough to stop illegal gold mining," he said. About 20 percent of the Yanomami tribe died from flu, malaria and other diseases in the 1980 and 1990s when gold miners invaded their land, Survival International said.
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