People of the Rainforest

By Rhett A. Butler
April 1, 2019

Tropical rainforests have long been home to Indigenous peoples, who have developed civilizations and cultures intricately connected to their environment. Great civilizations such as the Maya, Inca, and Aztec built complex societies and made enduring contributions to science.

African Forest Peoples

2019 note: In this section, references to "African forest peoples" generally describe the traditional practices and way of life of certain forest-dependent communities living in tropical forests, distinct from farming communities (typically Bantu or Sudanic in ethnicity) residing in villages. However, the context of these communities has been rapidly evolving over the past 20 years due to various social, economic, and environmental factors.

Today, the African rainforest is home to several Indigenous and traditional forest communities, including the Mbuti of the Ituri forest in northern Congo. The Mbuti, who are among the shorter-statured peoples of the region, typically do not exceed five feet (1.5 m) in height. In addition to the Mbuti, other major rainforest communities include the Aka (Central African Republic and northern Congo), the Baka or BaAka (southern Cameroon), and the Twa (central Congo River Basin). As of 2000, these groups collectively numbered between 130,000 and 170,000 people, spread across vast forested areas, resulting in low population densities.

African forest peoples generally have smaller physiques than neighboring non-forest groups. Some researchers suggest that their stature may be an adaptation that allows for more efficient movement through dense forests. Others propose that smaller body mass helps regulate heat dissipation in the humid environment.

Traditional Life of African Forest Peoples

African forest peoples traditionally live in bands ranging in size from 15 to 70 individuals, with group size influenced by factors such as game availability, trade relationships, disease prevalence, and forest area. These groups have historically been semi-nomadic, moving seasonally to access resources while carrying their belongings on their backs. This mobility, combined with low population density and limited external encroachment, has allowed ecosystems to recover naturally in previously inhabited areas.

When setting up temporary camps, forest communities clear undergrowth, small trees, and saplings but leave the larger canopy-forming trees intact. This practice preserves shade, maintains habitat for honey-producing bees and game, and facilitates natural regeneration after the group moves on. Their dwellings, constructed with a framework of saplings and covered in shingled tree leaves, resemble domed structures and provide efficient shelter.

Many African forest peoples spend part of the year near settled villages, where they trade bushmeat, honey, and labor for goods such as manioc, vegetables, metal tools, and fabric. Anthropologists have documented long-standing symbiotic relationships between forest and village families, often spanning generations.

Gender roles in forest communities are traditionally well-defined. Women primarily gather food, using baskets carried on their backs, while men focus on hunting and honey collection. Honey is a highly valued resource, and Mbuti men climb tall trees to access beehives, using smoke to subdue the bees before collecting the honey.

Hunting remains a vital activity, with different groups employing distinct methods. The Efe people, for instance, rely almost exclusively on bows and arrows, while other groups combine archery with net hunting.

The BaAka are particularly known for their communal net-hunting techniques. BaAka men arrange nets into a semi-circle, forming a barrier up to one kilometer in length, while women drive game into the nets. The men then use spears to dispatch the animals.

Although African forest peoples have historically maintained sustainable hunting practices, the increasing commercialization of the bushmeat trade has disrupted traditional norms. Rising demand in urban centers and international markets has led to overhunting. In some cases, forest peoples are recruited as guides for elephant poachers or as commercial hunters for mining and logging camps.

African Forest Peoples Today

African forest peoples, though relatively few in number compared to the broader sub-Saharan population, face growing threats from habitat destruction, the influx of external populations, and government policies aimed at settling traditionally nomadic groups.

As of the early 2000s, Central African governments had yet to grant legal land titles to forest peoples. Meanwhile, deforestation, forest degradation, expanding logging roads, and rising rural populations have intensified pressure on forest communities. Logging is particularly disruptive, as new roads open previously inaccessible areas to colonization, bringing outsiders and exposing forest dwellers to novel diseases for which they have little immunity.

Rapid changes in rural Central Africa are leading to an erosion of forest cultures. Beyond land-use pressures, increasing interaction with external communities is altering traditional relationships between groups such as the Mbuti and their neighbors. Many customary practices, such as hunting and the collection of non-timber forest products, have been criminalized by local authorities and governments, further marginalizing these communities.

Forest Peoples in Asia

Asia is by far the most populous region on Earth, and population pressures have led to significant changes in forested landscapes, impacting the traditional ways of life of the few remaining forest peoples.

According to anthropologists, the earliest inhabitants of Southeast Asia were dark-skinned, curly-haired, broad-nosed peoples who lived as hunter-gatherers and made extensive use of forest resources for food, medicine, and other purposes. Some of these early groups migrated to Australia. Over time, waves of migration and settlement pushed these communities into more remote forested areas. Today, the descendants of these original forest-dwelling peoples are found in isolated parts of the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, the Andaman Islands, the Philippines (Palawan Island), and New Guinea.

Around 7,000 years ago, groups known as Proto-Malays arrived from what is now India and Burma. These settlers, predominantly farmers, introduced early agricultural practices and domesticated plants. Later, between 5,000 and 3,000 years ago, another wave of migration brought the Deutero-Malays from southern China. These groups, who became the dominant populations in Southeast Asia, established settled agricultural societies. Over time, most communities in the region moved away from forest-dependent ways of life, integrating into agricultural and urban societies.

Due to demographic trends in Asia, including rapid population growth in recent centuries, many traditional forest peoples have transitioned away from their ancestral lifestyles and customs.

ASIAN FOREST PEOPLES TODAY

As noted earlier, the number of traditional nomadic forest peoples in Asia has declined significantly due to historic migrations, encroachment on their lands, and assimilation into broader rural societies.

Government policies have further accelerated this shift, with some of the remaining groups directly affected by Indonesia’s transmigration program. This initiative, aimed at relocating millions of people from densely populated islands such as Java, Bali, and Sulawesi to less populated areas like Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua [on the island of New Guinea], has significantly altered traditional landscapes and disrupted Indigenous communities. The program was intended to ease population pressures in central islands while promoting economic development through infrastructure projects, such as road construction and urban expansion. However, these relocations have often come at the expense of the original inhabitants of these regions, leading to deforestation, resource conflicts, and social tensions.

Beyond environmental impacts, the program has contributed to political unrest. In areas like East Timor, opposition to Indonesian governance escalated into violent conflict, ultimately resulting in UN intervention and eventual independence for East Timor. Large-scale logging operations, particularly in Borneo and New Guinea [New Guinea news], have also displaced many Indigenous communities.

While Indonesia’s official transmigration program has slowed, informal migration continues through large-scale development projects, particularly in the plantation sector. Workers are frequently relocated from one part of Indonesia to another to labor on timber plantations and oil palm estates. These projects often generate local resentment, as companies tend to employ migrant labor rather than hiring from Indigenous or local communities. Such conflicts are particularly pronounced in Indonesian New Guinea (West Papua) and Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan), where tensions persist over land rights, resource management, and cultural preservation.

American Forest Peoples

The American rainforests were once home to some of the world's most advanced civilizations of antiquity, including the Inca (Andes), Maya (Central America), and Aztec (Central America). These societies built vast cities and made significant advancements in agriculture, engineering, and science. However, their trajectories were dramatically altered by the arrival of Europeans in the late 15th and 16th centuries.

At the time of European arrival, an estimated 7–10 million Indigenous people lived in the rainforests of the Americas, with approximately half residing in what is now Brazil. When Pizarro reached Peru, the Andean region had extensive agricultural systems producing more food than is cultivated there today. While the most expansive cities, wealth, and technological advancements were concentrated in the Andes, significant Indigenous populations also lived in the Amazon.

Contrary to long-standing myths of a "pristine" Amazon untouched by humans, archaeological and ecological research has revealed that the region was home to complex, sedentary societies that managed landscapes in sophisticated ways. These societies produced pottery, cleared sections of rainforest for agriculture, and cultivated forests to optimize the distribution of useful species. The widespread idea of a virgin Amazon emerged largely due to the collapse of Indigenous populations following European contact. Studies suggest that approximately 11.8% of the Amazon's terra firme forests are anthropogenic in origin, shaped by centuries of Indigenous stewardship. Unlike modern large-scale deforestation, these early Amazonian societies practiced sustainable land management, integrating cultivated fields, natural forests, and areas dominated by species of special value to humans.

Many Indigenous groups thrived along whitewater rivers, benefiting from transportation routes, abundant fish, and fertile floodplain soils for agriculture. However, these were also the first communities to experience devastation following European arrival, as explorers and colonists used the rivers as highways into the interior. Within the first century of European presence, an estimated 90% of the Indigenous population perished due to disease, violence, and displacement. Those who survived often retreated into the deeper rainforest, either as a defensive measure or because they had traditionally lived in more remote areas.

Following Pizarro’s conquest of the Incan empire, exploitation and violence against Indigenous peoples continued for centuries under Spanish and Portuguese colonial rule, often justified by religious conversion efforts. Later, rubber barons, loggers, ranchers, and land developers perpetuated cycles of displacement and forced labor.

AMERICAN FOREST PEOPLES TODAY

Despite the immense population losses, Indigenous peoples continue to inhabit the rainforests of the Americas. However, virtually all communities have been affected by contact with the outside world. While some still maintain many traditional customs, few live entirely as their ancestors did. Instead of wearing exclusively traditional attire, many Indigenous people wear Western-style clothing and use metal tools and utensils in daily life. Some groups create handicrafts for sale to tourists, while others make routine trips to urban markets to trade goods. Almost no group today relies solely on traditional nomadic hunting and gathering; instead, agriculture has become a primary food source, supplemented by hunting, fishing, and foraging.

Most families cultivate two types of gardens: a small household garden with a variety of plants and a larger field, often around one hectare in size, planted with staple crops such as bananas, manioc, or rice. These fields are typically cleared using the traditional practice of rotational slash-and-burn agriculture, which, when managed properly, allows forests to regenerate before being cultivated again. This approach differs significantly from modern large-scale deforestation, which permanently removes forest cover.

While the vast majority of Indigenous people in the Amazon today have some degree of interaction with non-Indigenous society, dozens of uncontacted groups still exist, living in remote regions of Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Paraguay, and possibly Ecuador and Bolivia. These groups are often small, having splintered off from larger Indigenous communities that have had contact with outsiders. In Brazil, Peru, and Colombia, uncontacted tribes have been granted substantial territories to protect their autonomy. However, conflicts continue to arise, particularly with illegal loggers, miners, ranchers, and drug traffickers who trespass into their lands. In Peru and Ecuador, there have also been allegations of incursions by oil and gas companies operating under government-granted licenses.

Other Indigenous groups engage in varying degrees of economic activity, with some operating cattle ranches or large farms while others live in semi-traditional ways on designated Indigenous territories.

Indigenous social movements in the Americas have become among the most organized of any rainforest region. By forming advocacy groups and ethnic organizations, Indigenous communities have been better able to defend their rights, preserve their cultures, and protect their ancestral lands from exploitation.

Brazil

As of a 2006 census conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), more than 500,000 Brazilians identified as Indigenous. The country’s Indigenous affairs agency, FUNAI, estimates there are 67 uncontacted Indigenous groups in Brazil, the highest number of any nation.

Brazil has the largest population of Indigenous forest peoples still living in traditional ways. It also has some of the strongest legal protections for Indigenous rights, enshrined in the country’s 1988 constitution. These rights include the ability to maintain traditional ways of life and legal recognition of "Indigenous territories" through a demarcation process that grants land tenure rights.

As of 2010, Indigenous territories covered about 22% of the Brazilian Amazon, or approximately one million square kilometers. Additional claims for Indigenous land recognition remain under review. However, in 2012, Brazil’s Congress moved to increase the influence of mining and agribusiness interests in decisions regarding the demarcation of new Indigenous territories, raising concerns about the potential weakening of land protections.

Despite legal protections, Indigenous lands are frequently invaded by illegal loggers, miners, and ranchers. For example, Marãiwatséde, a legally recognized territory belonging to the Xavante people in Mato Grosso, has been heavily deforested and occupied by outside ranchers and land speculators, leading to severe environmental degradation and loss of Indigenous control.

Colombia

Indigenous communities in the Colombian Amazon have long faced exploitation and displacement. European colonization brought diseases that devastated populations, followed by abuses under colonial rule. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Indigenous people were forced into a debt-bondage system run by rubber traders, effectively enslaving them for life. In more recent times, incursions by gold miners, oil companies, settlers, and illegal coca cultivators have further eroded Indigenous land rights and livelihoods.

However, significant progress was made in the 1980s, thanks in part to the efforts of ethnologist Martin von Hildebrand. Through his work with Indigenous communities, von Hildebrand helped secure legal recognition of Indigenous land rights, culminating in the protection of 260,000 square kilometers (100,000 square miles) of Amazon rainforest—an area larger than the United Kingdom.

Von Hildebrand first traveled to the Colombian Amazon in 1970, spending several months living among remote Indigenous groups. He witnessed firsthand the abuses they suffered at the hands of rubber traders and the challenges they faced in preserving their culture and land. With Indigenous communities experiencing youth migration to cities and the loss of traditional knowledge, he dedicated himself to their empowerment.

In the 1970s, von Hildebrand documented Indigenous land management practices and philosophies centered on coexistence with the rainforest. He initiated educational programs to help Indigenous people regain autonomy and eventually joined the Colombian government in 1986 as Head of Indigenous Affairs and adviser to President Virgilio Barco Vargas. In this role, he helped drive legislation that established 20 million hectares of collective Indigenous territories—a milestone that became a cornerstone of Colombia’s 1991 constitution.

Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Venezuela, and the Guianas

Information on the current status of Indigenous forest communities in these countries is under development. In the meantime, recent articles covering Indigenous rights and environmental issues in the Amazon can be found here.

Forest People Today

Tropical rainforests have supported human societies for millennia. While life in the forest presents challenges, Indigenous peoples have developed deep knowledge of their environments, including medicinal plant properties and sustainable resource management. Their understanding of the forest as an interconnected ecosystem has been passed down for generations. However, as forests are degraded or destroyed, Indigenous communities lose not only their homes but also their cultural heritage. Encroachment by settlers—who often introduce new diseases and domestic animals—has contributed to the decline of Indigenous populations in many regions.

Historically, commercial enterprises, settlers, and governments have developed forest lands without the consent of the Indigenous inhabitants. Even today, in countries like Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia, private interests continue to illegally encroach on Indigenous territories.

In some cases, Indigenous communities are given a choice about whether to permit development on their lands or to preserve their environment in its natural state. When development proceeds, communities often expect certain benefits, such as improved education, healthcare, infrastructure, and financial compensation. Other communities choose to maintain their traditional way of life by rejecting development. More often, however, opinions within a community are divided. External actors sometimes exploit these internal divisions to gain access to Indigenous lands.

For example, in Papua New Guinea in the 1990s, some Bahineimo people agreed to sell their land to logging firms. However, it was later discovered that many of the signatures on the agreement had been forged, leading the government to suspend the deal. Similarly, in Ecuador, oil companies have sought to influence high-ranking members of Indigenous organizations to obtain drilling rights on ancestral lands.

"Divide and conquer" tactics are frequently used to fragment Indigenous organizations, weakening their ability to advocate for their rights and resources. These strategies often exploit existing tensions between tribal groups, redirecting attention away from external threats and toward internal disputes.

In some cases, Indigenous leaders have been misled into signing contracts that grant companies the right to extract resources or convert forested land for other uses. The concept of private land ownership is often foreign to traditional Indigenous societies, where land and resources are generally viewed as communal rather than individual property.

Governments in many tropical countries have historically prioritized economic development over the rights of Indigenous peoples. In the past, this has led to land seizures and forced displacement. Some countries still do not formally recognize Indigenous land rights, leaving communities vulnerable to exploitation.

Even when Indigenous communities are not directly displaced, many are undergoing cultural shifts as they integrate into mainstream society. This process can lead to the erosion of traditional knowledge and customs.

Among younger generations, the allure of urban life can be strong, drawing individuals away from their communities. However, the transition can be difficult, particularly in regions where Indigenous people face discrimination or lack the necessary support to navigate life in a city. For some, leaving their community results in a loss of cultural identity, while others struggle to integrate into a society that may be unfamiliar or unwelcoming.

The New Rainforest Dwellers

The term "rainforest people" increasingly refers not only to Indigenous communities but also to colonists who have recently migrated to forested regions. These settlers move to rainforest areas for various reasons, though economic opportunities—such as access to land, employment, or natural resources—are the primary drivers.

Colonization can lead to conflicts over land, particularly when settlers' claims or activities encroach upon Indigenous territories. This is a major source of tension in regions like the Amazon, where disputes over land rights frequently escalate into violence.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

Review questions - Part I

• Who lives in the rainforest?

Review questions - Part II

• Are pygmies real?
• Why is the traditional lifestyle of African forest people threatened?

Review questions - Part III

• Why is the traditional lifestyle of native forest dwellers threatened in Asia?

Review questions - Part IV

• How has life changed for most forest dwellers over the past 50 years or so?
• Who are the Yanomani?

Review questions - Part V

• What is happening to traditional Indigenous cultures of rainforest peoples?
• Who are the new "people of the rainforest"?

CITATIONS

Citations - Part II

• Information on the African pygmies, including details about their hunting methods, population density, cultural practices, and trade relationships with Bantu farmers is provided in Turnbull, C.M. Ed., Mbuti "Pygmies" : Change and Adaptation, New York: Holt Rinehart & Winston, 1997; Turnbull, C.M., The forest people, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1961; and Kenrick, J., "People of the African Forests," Rainforests: The Illustrated Library of the Earth, ed. N. Myers, Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press, 1993.
• Current threats to the traditional way of life for pygmies are addressed in Kenrick, J., "People of the African Forests," Rainforests: The Illustrated Library of the Earth, ed. N. Myers, Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press, 1993; Kristof, N.D., "Pygmies' Simple Way of Life in Congo Jungles is Threatened," New York Times, 6/16/97; and Strieker, G. "Rainforest Aborigines Crowded out by Newcomers, Loggers." Cable News Network, 3/11/97

Citations - Part III

• Brief histories of colonization of Southeast Asia by three waves of immigrants are given in Brookfield, H., Potter, L., and Byron, Y. (In Place of the Forest: Environmental and Socio-economic Transformation in Borneo and the Eastern Malay Peninsula (New York: United Nations University Press, 1995); and Wachtel, P.S., "People of the Asian Forests." Rainforests: The Illustrated Library of the Earth. ed. N. Myers, Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press, 1993.
• The historical relationships and conflicts (religious, cultural, economic) between coastal Malays and forest dwelling Dyaks are addressed by Brookfield, H., Potter, L., and Byron, Y., In Place of the Forest: Environmental and Socio-economic Transformation in Borneo and the Eastern Malay Peninsula (New York: United Nations University Press, 1995. Williams, L. ("1,200 go missing in ethnic warfare," The Sydney Morning Herald, 3/5/97) and Solomon, J. ("Indonesia seems unable to stop rampage," The Wall Street Journal, 1999) report on the current bloodshed between the two groups.

Citations - Part IV

• The "Indigenous Population in Selected Latin American Countries" table comes from Commission of Development and Environment for Amazonia 1992, Amazonia Without Myths, Inter-American Development Bank and UN Development Programme, Washington, D.C. 1992.
• In his One River {New York: Touchstone, 1996), Wade Davis provides an fascinating look into the genius of the Inca including their complex cultivation techniques and highly developed political bureaucracies. They managed the land to suit their needs and when When Pizarro arrived in Peru, more land was under cultivation and more food was being produced in the Andean region than is today. Jared Diamond in Guns, Germs, and Steel (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1998) offers a further insightful look into Incan culture and the early history of their civilization.

Citations - Part V

• Estimates for Amerindian population before the arrival of Europeans are found in A. Roosevelt, Parmana. New York: Academic Press, 1980; Smith, N.J.H. "Anthrosols and human carrying capacity in Amazônia," Annals of the Association of American Geographers 70: 553-566, 1980; Dobyns, H., Their Numbers Became Thin, University of Tennessee Press: Knoxville, 1983; MacDonald, T., "People of the Central and South American Forests," Rainforests: The Illustrated Library of the Earth. ed. N. Myers, Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press, 1993; Smith, N.J.H. et al., Amazonia - Resiliency and Dynamism of the Land and its People, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995; and Diamond, J., Guns, Germs, and Steel New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1998.
• The history of settlement in the Amazon, including the development of pottery and agriculture is discussed in A. Roosevelt, Parmana, New York: Academic Press, 1980; Roosevelt, A., "Resource management in Amazônia before the conquest: Beyond ethnographic projection," Advances in Economic Botany 7: 30-62, 1989; Bush, M. A., D. R. Piperno, and P. A. Colinvaux, "A 6,000 year history of Amazonian maize cultivation," Nature 340: 303-305, 1989; Roosevelt, A., Moundbuilders of the Amazon: Geophysical archaeology on Marajo Island, Brazil, San Diego: Academic Press, 1991; Smith, N.J.H. et al., Amazonia - Resiliency and Dynamism of the Land and its People, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995; Nishizawa, T. and J. I. Uitto, eds., The Fragile Tropics of Latin America: Sustainable Management of Changing Environments, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995; A.C. Roosevelt, et al., "Paleoindian cave dwellers i n the Amazon: The peopling of the Americas," Science 272:373-384, 1996; and Diamond, J., Guns, Germs, and Steel New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1998.
• Large-scale forest clearing and management by pre-Colombian populations is reviewed in Richards, P.W.," Tropical forests and woodlands: An overview," Agro-Ecosystems 3: 225-238, 1977; Dufour, D.L., "Use of tropical rainforests by native Amazonians," Bioscience 40: 652-659, 1990; Denevan, V.M., "The pristine myth: The landscape of the Americas in 1492," Annals of the Association of American Geographers 82: 369-385, 1992; and Meggers, B.J., "Archaeological perspectives on the potential of Amazonia for intensive exploitation," in Nishizawa, T. and J. I. Uitto, eds., The Fragile Tropics of Latin America: Sustainable Management of Changing Environments, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995. At least 11.8% of terra firme forests are believed to be of an anthropogenic form according to Balée, W., "The culture of Amazonian forests," Advances in Economic Botany 7: 1-21, 1989; and Nishizawa, T. and J. I. Uitto, eds., The Fragile Tropics of Latin America: Sustainable Management of Changing Environments, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995.
• The notion of a sparsely populated Amazon is a testament to the best weapon possessed by Europeans in their conquering of the New World: their diseases. These diseases, especially smallpox, devastated unsuspecting native populations native populations, killing as much as 95%. The massive Amerindian die-off is described in innumerable works, but this book draws on the following sources: Prescott W.H., History of the Conquest of Peru, New York 1847; McNeill W.H., Plagues and Peoples, New York: History Book Club, 1976; H. Dobyns, Their Numbers Became Thin, Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1983; Caufield, C., In the Rainforest, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984; A.W. Crosby, Ecological Imperialism-The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986; Nishizawa, T. and J. I. Uitto, eds., The Fragile Tropics of Latin America: Sustainable Management of Changing Environments, New York: United Nations University Press, 1995; and Diamond, J., Guns, Germs, and Steel New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1998. A history of the Mayan civilization can be found in Sharer, R.J., The Ancient Maya, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994. It has been suggested that deforestation may have been one of the causes behind the downfall of this great civilization.
• An overview of forest people today is found in Moran, E.F. "Following the Amazon highways," In Julie S. Denslow and Christine Padoch (eds.), People of the tropical rain forest, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1988.
• Wade Davis (One River, New York: Touchstone, 1996) describes research by Kaplan, J.E., et al., ("Infectious Disease Patterns in the Waorani, an Isolated Amerindian People," American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 29(2): 298-312, 1980), Larrick, J.W., et al., ("Snake Bite Among the Waorani Indians of Eastern Ecuador," Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygeine 72: 542-543, 1978), and Larrick, J.W., et al., ("Patterns of Health Among the Waorani Indians of Eastern Ecuador," Medical Anthropology 3: 147-91, 1979) which found remarkably good health among unacculturated Indigenous people.
• According to MacDonald, T., ("People of the Central and South American Forests," Rainforests: The Illustrated Library of the Earth. ed. N. Myers, Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press, 1993) virtually no native group in the Amazon obtains the majority of their food by traditional nomadic hunting and gathering.
• The brutal treatment of native people by the conquerors, religious leaders, and rubber barrons is depicted in Davis, W., One River, New York: Touchstone, 1996.
• The sharp 1996 increase in land incursions by loggers and miners on Indigenous territories was publicized by Schomberg, W., "Brazil's Indians Face Rising Land Invasions Report," Reuters, 12/5/97.
• The Brazilian government plan to reduce the threat of garimpeiros to the Yanomani is reported in Schomberg, W., "Brazil Clears Miners in Bid to Save Yanomani," Reuters, 1/14/98 and Schomberg, W., "Brazil's Yanomani See Life After Gold Rush," Reuters, 2/28/98.
• The Rainforest Action Network (1990-1996) reports on conflicts between miners and native Yanomani, while Clay, J.W. ("Indigenous Peoples: The Miner's Canary for the 20th Century," In Lessons of the Rainforest, Suzanne Head and Robert Heinzman, eds., Sierra Club Books) notes some of the techniques - such as distributing disease-infected blankets - employed by miners to clear lands of Indigenous people.
• Mercury pollution and disease among local residents resulting from gold mining in the Amazon is discussed in Hecht, S.B. and A. Cockburn, The fate of the forest: Developers, destroyers, and defenders of the Amazon. London: Verso, 1989; Malm, O., Pfeiffer, W.C., et al.: "Mercury Pollution Due to Gold Mining in the Madeira River Basin, Brazil," Ambio19(1):11-15 (1990); Thornton, l., D. Cleary, S. Worthington, and N. Brown, Mercury contamination in the Brazilian Amazon: A report for the Commission of the European Communitie (Directorate General l-K-2, Environment). Brussels, 1991; Lebel J., Mergler D., et al. "Evidence of early nervous system dysfunction in Amazonian populations exposed to low levels of methylmercury," Neurotoxicology, 17(1): 157-167, 1996; Pearce, F., "A nightmare revisited," The New Scientist, 2/6/99.
• Official land demarcation for Indigenous Brazilians is reported in Borges, B., "Brazil Legalizes Indigenous Land Titles," Environmental News Network 11/28/97 and Moffett, M. "Native empowerment and economic growth collide in rural Brazil,"The Wall Street Journal 8/19/99.
• The botanical genius of native rainforest peoples is articulated in Caufield, C., In the Rainforest, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984; Cox, P.A. and Balick, M.J. "The Ethnobotanical Approach to Drug Discovery," Scientific American, June 1994; Davis, W., One River, New York: Touchstone, 1996; and
  Davis, W., Shadows in the Sun, Washington, D.C.: Island Press/Shearwater Books, 1998.
• The internal conflict over development in the Bahineimo tribe of Papua New Guinea is described in Hanley, C.J., "Aboriginal Peoples Choosing Between Heritage, Money," Associated Press, 5/29/96.
• The plight of the Ashanainka tribe in Peru is documented in Speer, L.J., "Amazon Tribe's Last Stand," San Francisco Chronicle Foreign Service, 1/9/95.
• The battle between Occidental Oil and the U'wa of Colombia is discussed in Rainforest Action Network literature (1995-1999) and Waldman, G. "A rain-forest tribe brings its eco-battle to corporate America,"The Wall Street Journal, 6/7/99.