Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation and Initial Contact

This book offers a detailed insight into the situation of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation in South America. It looks into the threats and challenges that indigenous peoples face and offers a rich source of demographic and ethnographic information regarding indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact.

Who are indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation? It is estimated that there are about 200 uncontacted indigenous groups in the Americas. Although there is no universally accepted definition of their status, indigenous peoples in isolation are usually indigenous villages or segments of indigenous peoples which do not have, or never have had, regular contact with people outside their own group, and that usually shun contact with people who are not part of their group.

A panoramic view presented by experts The texts in this compilation give valuable perspectives on the situation of indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation. Experts, who have dedicated many years to studying the topic, have gathered and produced the information available in the book. With a journey from the Brazilian Amazon, to the Paraguayan and Bolivian Gran Chaco, to the Peruvian and Ecuadoran jungle, the book presents perspectives ranging from the confirmed existence of indigenous peoples in Peru—to the point that they have been recognized in Peruvian domestic law—to the controversy and disagreements regarding their existence in Venezuela.