Uncontacted

For decades the Machiguenga, an indigenous ethnic group that lives in the Peruvian jungle, have fled civilization. They first escaped the diseases brought to their lands by the Spanish conquistadors. Then they had to flee from the rubber barons, at the beginning of the 20th century, who enslaved them.

 

Today many of these families live isolated in the Nahua-Kogapakori-Nanti Reserve, in the Cusco jungle trying to recover their traditions and customs.

 

However, in recent years civilization has once again threatened their peaceful life because one of the largest natural gas fields in the world is hidden beneath the reserve terrain.

The isolates have no identification and most do not even know how old they are. Photos by Daniel Silva Yoshisato

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