Loggers in Peru’s Amazon encroach on uncontacted Indigenous Mascho Piro - The Washington Post

Advocates say Canales Tahuamanu is violating laws that protect Indigenous peoples who choose to live in isolation. The company says it complies with all Peruvian legislation. NUEVA OCEANIA, Peru — Sometimes, they imitate the low rumble of the howler monkey or the shrill squawk of the curassow. Often, they block a jungle path with two branches in the shape of an X. The Mashco Piro, believed to be the planet’s largest Indigenous group still living in voluntary isolation from the outside world, have ways of registering their displeasure at — and fear of — intruders. When they’ve felt threatened in their remote Amazonian territory, the hunter-gatherers, whose number is estimated at 750, have launched six-foot arrows from the bush. They have, on occasion, killed strangers. Now a logging company is encroaching on their solitude. Canales Tahuamanu, or Catahua, has a timber concession spanning some 50,000 hectares here — and a record of clashing with Indigenous groups. Since 2010, its workers

Advocates say Canales Tahuamanu is violating laws that protect Indigenous peoples who choose to live in isolation. The company says it complies with all Peruvian legislation. NUEVA OCEANIA, Peru — Sometimes, they imitate the low rumble of the howler monkey or the shrill squawk of the curassow. Often, they block a jungle path with two branches in the shape of an X. The Mashco Piro, believed to be the planet’s largest Indigenous group still living in voluntary isolation from the outside world, have ways of registering their displeasure at — and fear of — intruders. When they’ve felt threatened i