New images from Brazil's Amazon show that an isolated Indigenous community, known as the Massaco, is thriving—but their success brings a new threat of contact. The images, captured in 2019 and 2024 by hidden cameras placed by Brazil's National Indigenous Peoples Foundation (Funai), reveal a growing population in the Massaco Indigenous territory in Rondônia state.
The Massaco, named after the river that runs through their land near the Bolivia border, are one of 28 confirmed isolated communities in Brazil. They are known for using hidden hardwood spikes to protect their territory, which can disable vehicles. Funai veteran Altair Algayer, who has protected the Massaco for decades, estimates the population has grown from 100-120 in the early 1990s to 200-250 today, with signs of children and new huts suggesting it could reach 300.
Under Brazil's no-contact policy, established in 1987 after peaceful contact caused catastrophic disease and misery, Funai monitors the Massaco without interacting. The territory, the first in Brazil protected exclusively for uncontacted peoples, has seen deforestation reduced to zero. However, the growing population increases the risk of accidental or forced contact with loggers, settlers, or others encroaching on their land.
Algayer's team has mapped 174 huts, photographed artefacts, and learned the Massaco's seasonal movements to avoid them. The community's bows, over three metres long, are among the longest in the Amazon, and how they shoot them remains a mystery. The new images provide vital proof of the Massaco's existence, allowing Funai to continue its protection efforts.
