In 2023, there are very few places that a camera, a Google vehicle or a tourist have not been able to access. But exceptions are always the most interesting, and these cases prove it. In a world where with one click you can be in Hong Kong, Times Square or Big Ben in London, everything becomes closer, even if thousands of kilometers separate us. However, far from the cities, the transportation systems and the mobilizations, there are towns that, for various reasons, have had almost zero contact with the outside world and their knowledge of them is non-existent except for just a few experts in the field. issue.
Defining what an isolated town is can be somewhat complicated. Isolated from what? Why are they isolated? Can they approach society? The questions are always many, and the answers always seem few. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) defines isolated peoples as “those groups that were not colonized at any time, and that do not have relations with current national societies.” This means that many communities, even if they are in the Colombian Amazon or in the Brazilian Acre, do not consider themselves Colombians or Brazilians, and most likely cannot communicate with their fellow “nationality”.
They are peoples who choose to isolate themselves, they know that the world outside is very different from theirs and that their reality is not everyone’s. For this reason, the national states of many countries (mainly Latin American) have enacted laws with the objective of guaranteeing the security and integrity of these communities, which are seen by many companies, mainly forestry companies, as an obstacle to development.
The same commission, in turn, categorized those isolated peoples, which have had initial and constant contact with society, either to ensure their survival, to insert their youngest children into the cities, or for tourist and economic issues. . According to the NGO Survival, it is estimated that there are at least 100 towns around the world that have had no contact with other societies, or that this has been very minimal. The vast majority of these are present in three continents, characterized by their great biodiversity: America (In Amazon parts of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, etc.), Asia (In India, in the Andaman Islands especially ) and in Oceania and its unknown islands. In the case of Africa, the great deforestation added to the endless armed conflicts, has caused many people to go out in search of help and protection from the states, making their contact more constant than in other regions.
The 8 of the Omo Valley, Ethiopia.
A total of almost 200,000 people make up the 8 indigenous towns that are located in the lower valley of the Omo River, in the African horn. It is believed that their presence exceeds centuries, and in some cases, millennia. Among the best known are the Mursi people, known for their traditional white tattoos among men, and for the peculiar lip plates on women. The contact of these groups with Ethiopian society has always been conflictive. The main reason is the amount of hydraulic works and agricultural undertakings carried out in the area, which has forced these towns to move. At the same time, national parks have been created, in which entry to indigenous people is prohibited. The resettlement that the government proposed for these people was not effective, and the violations of the human rights of these groups are a sad reality. That is why human rights organizations have been the best friends of these people.
The Nukak, Colombia.
Within the large jungles that cover southern Colombia, there are many groups (approximately more than 15) that, due to the flora of the place, have never had a relationship with those outside. Among these, we have the Nukak people. The rubber fever at the beginning of the previous century caused many of these towns to become even more isolated; Only in 1988 did the first approach take place. Unlike all the other groups mentioned and to be mentioned, the Nukak are nomadic, making their approach to the outside world even more difficult. Contact at the end of the 80s was a tragedy for them, which almost led to their disappearance: contact with outside people caused many Nukaks to suffer from diseases such as flu or measles, which, not having the necessary immunological defenses, caused many deaths. It is estimated that more than half of the population died due to disease, but that was not the end. The arrival of several paramilitary groups in the region, mainly the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), caused several men to be forcibly recruited for drug trafficking, as well as women to be raped without the possibility of defense. Today, 35 years after the first contact, their population is less than a thousand, and their settlements have been placed in Guaviare, a department of the country close to their area of traditional residence, because they were violently displaced from their homes. The Nukak are among the 32 peoples at risk of extinction, and unless action is taken on the matter, their end seems inevitable.
Forest People, Indonesia
The Hongana Manyawas, or forest people in their language, are one of the peoples that inhabit the country’s green islands, and are also one of the least known groups. What is best known is their total devotion to the nature that surrounds them, so much so that at birth, the umbilical cord is placed in the ground next to a tree seed, in gratitude for the birth and to eternally connect the baby with its environment. When they die, their bodies are deposited in a corner of the jungle, which is believed to be what preserves the spirits, like a crypt but in the open air. That is why the main threat to this people is deforestation, since it not only deteriorates their place of life, but also their beliefs and identity. Just as they live off the jungle, they also feed on it, so poaching also means a problem that they have no chance of solving. The government’s response has been clear: protect the companies and harass the Hongana, many of whom were criminally convicted of homicides in the area without any trial, murders that were clearly not committed by them. All of this generated great aggressiveness among the people against the outside world, with several videos on YouTube showing attacks by the Hongana upon the arrival of a stranger.
The Sentinelese, the fear of the unknown.
If in our search engine we put “Most isolated people in the world” the first answer that appears is the Sentinelese, a tribe located on North Sentinel Island, belonging to the Andaman Islands archipelago, in India. Why are they the most isolated town in the world? Simply because not even the Indian government has control of the island, the aggressiveness of these people is enormous, and since they live on an islet, any arrival is seen in advance by the residents. It is for all this that the information is almost zero, we do not even know how they recognize themselves, well, sentineles is just the name of the island. It is believed that the place has been populated for more than 50,000 years, and that they have managed to develop in a great way to be able to survive and not go hungry: they fish, hunt and some women collect fruits. The fame of this island began in 2006, when two illegal Indian fishermen decided to spend the night there, with the aim of resting and returning to the sea the next day. What they did not know is that that would be their last night. They were savagely murdered, and the ship washed ashore. But, without a doubt, the most well-known and tragic event occurred in 2018, the year in which John Allen Chau, an American missionary, had a very bad idea: to go to the island with the aim of evangelizing the population and showing them love. of God. To their bad luck, the inhabitants did not listen to the divine call. Between spears and arrows, John was murdered and his body has not been found to date. This episode demonstrated the great rejection that the community has towards the outside world, and also the little importance that India gives to this island. After this case, the Delhi authorities began to monitor the area so that no stranger could enter and probably leave dead. The Indian government recognizes the rights of the inhabitants and believes that contact with the Sentinelese will never be a valid alternative, which is why the North Sentinel people will continue to be the most mysterious on the planet for a long time.
The majority of these cases demonstrate that these people have a negative opinion of other societies, which have generally been characterized by destroying the life and identity of these ancient tribes. Probably, as the years go by, and with greater deforestation of the jungles around the world, more towns will appear on the map, and more stories will be discovered.
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