The Moxihatetema tribe living in isolation in the Amazon rainforest must strive to protect their territory against threats from illegal gold miners.
Discovery of an endangered tribe in the Amazon rainforest
According to Generation Voyage, the Moxihatetema tribe was discovered in the Yanomami reserve near the Brazil-Venezuela border in 2015. Maintaining traditional ways of life for thousands of years, this tribe could vanish without protecting their land from the encroachment of illegal gold miners.
During investigations into illegal gold mining activities, government forces captured images of the Moxihatetema tribe within the territory of the Yanomami people. This area has been under government protection since 1992 and is home to 22,000 people from various small tribes, including at least three isolated tribes from the outside world.
Each shabono serves as a home to a family, utilizing land patches for hammocks and food reserves. An estimated 100 people are believed to inhabit the newly discovered area. However, the Brazilian government estimates about 5,000 illegal gold miners lurk around this area with intentions to harm the Moxihatetema tribe. History shows that tribes living in the jungle can be in danger when encountering people from the outside world. They lack immunity to common diseases and are susceptible to conflicts with gold miners.