Brazil has allowed the release of rare photographs of Amazonian natives to bring attention to the plight of indigenous people who rights groups say are faced with possible extinction. The astonishing images（AFP）, showing curious adults and children peering skyward with their faces dyed reddish-orange and toting bows, arrows and spears, were taken by Brazil's National Indian Foundation （FUNAI）. For them, as for those who saw them, it was a remarkable moment as the lost tribes live in total isolation in the dense Amazon rainforest along the Brazilian-Peruvian border.

巴西已經准許發布亞馬遜原住民珍貴的照片，希望喚醒世人關注叢林土著的困境，人權團體說，他們可能面臨滅絕。從這些令人難以置信的圖像（見圖／法新社），可見好奇的大人小孩正抬頭仰望天空，他們臉孔染成橘紅色，身背弓箭和長矛，照片是巴西「全國印第安原住民基金會」拍攝。對他們及對那些正盯著他們看的人，這是個了不起的時刻，因為這些失落的部族在巴西和秘魯接壤的亞馬遜茂密雨林中與世隔絕地活著。

Rights group Survival International, which accompanied the government agency on the overflight near the Brazil-Peru border, said their baskets were full of papaya and manioc grown in a communal garden. “Illegal loggers will destroy this indigenous people. It is essential that the Peruvian government stop them before it is too late,” warned Survival's director Stephen Corry.

陪同政府機構飛越巴西和秘魯邊界的「國際生存」人權組織說，這些土著的籃子裡裝滿在公共園地所種的木瓜和樹薯。國際生存領袖柯里警告說：「非法伐木者破壞這裡的原民。最重要的是秘魯政府應出面阻止他們，以免太遲了。」

FUNAI has released similar photographs in the past and acknowledged that Peruvian loggers are sending some natives fleeing across the border to less-affected rainforests in Brazil. The coordinator of Brazil's Amazon Indian organization COIAB, Marcos Apurina, said he hoped the images would draw attention to the plight of the indigenous peoples and encourage their protection. “It's necessary to reaffirm that these peoples exist, so we support the use of images that prove these facts. These peoples have had their most fundamental rights, particularly their right to life, ignored,” he said.

巴西印第安原民基金會過去曾發布過類似照片，並承認秘魯伐木工人把當地一些土著送過邊界，到巴西較未受影響的熱帶雨林生活。巴西亞馬遜印第安人組織COIAB協調員阿普里納說，希望這些圖像可以喚醒世人注意當地土著的困境，並提供他們保護。他說：「我們有必要重申這些原住民的存在，因此我們支持使用圖像以證明這些事實。這些人最基本的權利，尤其是他們的生存權遭到漠視。」

FUNAI says there are 67 tribes in Brazil that do not have sustained contact with the outside world. Some are often referred to as “uncontacted” tribes even though they have some kind of, albeit limited, contacts. A year ago, rights groups sent a letter to then president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva voicing concern that the very survival of indigenous groups was under threat. Brazil's latest census counted more than 500,000 indigenous people among more than 190 million Brazilians. Millions in the country, however, have some indigenous ancestry.

原民基金會表示，巴西有67個部落未持續與外界接觸，有些通稱「未接觸的」部落，即使有些接觸，也極其有限。人權組織1年前曾致函當時總統魯拉，關注土著部落的生存受到威脅。巴西最新人口普查顯示，全國逾1.9億人口中，有50多萬名土著，但全國有數百萬人祖先是原住民。

Fears are growing that an influx of illegal loggers from Peru could threaten their survival, by pushing back other tribes in the River Envira area and creating bloody conflict over raw materials and land. But while the Brazilian government has marked out three continuous areas of territory on their side of the border, where four or more tribes live in peace, their Peruvian neighbors continue to adopt a more uncaring attitude. President Alan Garc燰, who took charge of Peru in 2006, has even gone on record to say that these tribes do not exist.

隨著非法盜伐林木者從秘魯湧入，逼使恩維拉河區其他部落節節後撤，並因原料和土地而爆發流血衝突，使人益發擔心可能危及土著的生存。但儘管巴西政府已在其邊境畫出3個連續的保護區，供至少4個部落和平的生活，鄰國秘魯仍採取漠不關心的態度。2006年上台的賈西亞總統甚至公開聲稱，這些部落根本不存在。

The tribe have distinctive shorn foreheads and long hair behind, like Panoan Indians, and these images reveal astonishing detail about their way of life as well as what a vibrant community they are. There are baskets full of a type of cassava and papaya as well as containers of vegetables, fish and game covered with banana leaves. The community, which is estimated to contain about 150 people, also have metal goods such as a machete knife and a pan - believed to have been acquired through inter-tribal trading.

一如印第安帕諾族，這個部族前額明顯剃光，後面留著長髮，這些圖像披露了他們驚人的生活細節，及一個充滿活力的聚落。還可見一籃籃滿滿的樹薯、木瓜及裝箱的蔬菜、魚和野味，都用香蕉葉覆蓋著。這個部落估計有約150個人，還有金屬製品，像大砍刀和平底鍋，相信應該是透過部落間交易換來的。

Fiona Watson of Survival International fears that if the Peruvian government persists with its current attitude and does nothing to halt the impact of the loggers then the future of this small cluster of tribes - and their fascinating way of life - will be lost for ever. “I don't understand why in our world today a lot of people don't think that these groups don't have as much rights as anyone else. What right do we have to tell them how to live? Despite all the pressure on the Peruvian government over three years ago, next to nothing has been done to help them.” she said.

「國際生存」組織的菲奧娜．沃森擔心，如果秘魯政府目前的態度不變，不肯採取行動制止伐木工人所造成的衝擊，這些小部落的未來以及他們迷人的生活方式將永遠失傳。她說：「我不明白，為什麼今天我們這個世界很多人並不認為，這些土著部落跟任何人一樣有生存的權利。我們有什麼權利告訴他們怎麼生活？過去3年來，不管如何向秘魯政府施壓，在幫助他們上，政府什麼也沒做。」

Statistics showed that 50 percent of those it had met died within a year due to their lack of immunity to diseases which they were unfamiliar with. The tribes in the area are thought to have been descendants from slaves caught up in the rubber boom a century ago. They were forced to work in terrible conditions and some fled into the Amazon to escape - and they have lived in these remote locations deep in the rainforest in isolation until now.

統計數字顯示，那些他們接觸過的原民，由於對他們所不熟悉的疾病缺乏免疫力，有一半在1年內死亡。這個地區的部落據信是1個世紀前橡膠盛產時不幸淪為奴隸的後代，他們被迫在惡劣的環境下工作，有些逃到亞馬遜叢林裡避難，一直住在偏遠的雨林深處，遺世獨立至今。

Watson has brought the issue to the attention of the UN. “They want to remain isolated, and I'm sure their historical memory, with what went on during the rubber boom, is very strong. They are very happy the way they are.” she said.

沃森已把這個問題提交聯合國注意。她說：「他們想保持孤立，我很確定，他們對盛產橡膠時的歷史記憶十分強烈。他們很想維持現狀。」