Kangaroo bone ornament is Australia’s oldest known piece of jewellery

Australia’s oldest-known piece of Indigenous jewellery has been unearthed in the Kimberley region of northern Australia by archaeologists at The Australian National University (ANU). The ornament, a pointed kangaroo bone worn through the nose, has been dated at more than 46,000-years-old and debunks a theory that bone tools were not used in Australia for thousands of years.

Researcher Dr Michelle Langley of the ANU School of Culture, History and Language said this was the earliest hard evidence that Australia’s first inhabitants were using bone to make tools and ornaments.

“We know people had bone tools in Africa at least 75,000 years ago. People were leaving Africa around the same time and arrived in Australia some 60,000 years ago,” Dr Langley said.

“Until very recently the earliest bone tools we had found in Australia dated to about 20,000 years ago, so there has been a 40,000 year gap.

“Some people believed that the knowledge of bone tool making was lost on the journey between Africa and Australia.

“With this find, we now know they were making bone tools soon after arriving in Australia.”

Carpenter’s Gap

The bone was dug up at Carpenter’s Gap, a large rockshelter in Windjana Gorge National Park.

“It’s a shaped point made on kangaroo leg bone, and at each end we can see traces of red ochre,” Dr Langley said.

“This artefact was found below a deposit dated to 46,000 years ago, so it is older than that date.”

Throughout history Indigenous Australians have used kangaroo leg bones for a variety of activities, such as leatherwork, basketry, ceremonial tasks, and bodily decoration.

“The bone we found is most consistent with those used for facial decoration,” she said.

“All across Australia both men and women would wear a bone point through their nose identical to this one. Children in some communities were known to have had their nose pierced quite young, while in others only certain individuals were allowed to adorn themselves in this fashion.”

Dr Langley said the location and nature of this artefact made it a rare and remarkable discovery. “Organic based items like this don’t survive in the north Australian archaeological record very often, so it’s a very unusual find,” she said.

This work resulted from an Australian Research Council Linkage grant awarded to Professor Sue O’Connor. The same project previously unearthed fragments from the world’s oldest-known ground-edge axe.

The research has been published in Quaternary Science Reviews.
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Reference:

Past Horizons. 2016. “Kangaroo bone ornament is Australia’s oldest known piece of jewellery”. Past Horizons. Posted: November 18, 2016. Available online: http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/11/2016/kangaroo-bone-ornament-is-australias-oldest-known-piece-of-jewellery

First Lancet global snapshot of indigenous peoples health released

A world-first University of Melbourne-led study into the health and wellbeing of more than 154 million Indigenous and tribal people globally reveals the extent of work that needs to be done if the United Nations is to meet its 2030 goals of ending poverty and inequality.

The Indigenous and tribal peoples' health (The Lancet-Lowitja Institute Global Collaboration): A Population Study, commissioned by Australia's Lowitja Institute, is the most comprehensive ever compiled by world health experts.

It brings together data from 28 indigenous and tribal groups across 23 countries - accounting for more than half of the world's native populations.

Lead author Professor Ian Anderson, Chair of Indigenous Education and Pro Vice Chancellor of Engagement at the University of Melbourne, said the key to the success of the report was in the international collaboration of 65 world-leading experts in Indigenous health.

"What was absolutely critical and unique to this project was being able to work with authors and contributors across the 23 countries," Prof Anderson said.

Romlie Mokak, chief executive of the Lowitja Institute, said the research represented an important milestone for the institute.

"The Lowitja Institute values the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and we extend that purpose to our international global Indigenous family," Mr Mokak said.

"The study highlights the importance of global networks that bring together Indigenous health experts, academics and policymakers to effect positive outcomes for First Peoples. Providing leadership in this area is very important."

The study responds to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development signed in September 2015 with the stated aim to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate changes, while ensuring that no one is left behind.

The participating countries included Australia, United States, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Russia, China, India, Thailand, Pakistan, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Myanmar, Kenya, Peru, Panama, Venezuela, Cameroon and Nigeria.

Researchers assessed data on basic population, life expectancy at birth, infant mortality, low and high birthweight, maternal mortality, nutritional status, educational attainment, poverty and economic status. They did not make cross-country comparisons.

Key findings and recommendations include:

• Health and wellbeing is generally poorer for Indigenous and tribal peoples, although the level of disadvantage varies across nations.
• Being Indigenous in a wealthy country does not necessarily lead to better outcomes
• National governments need to develop targeted policy responses to Indigenous health, improving access to health services, and Indigenous data within national surveillance systems.

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Reference:

EurekAlert. 2016. “First Lancet global snapshot of indigenous peoples health released”. EurekAlert. Posted: April 21, 2016. Available online: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-04/uom-flg042116.php

Ancient Australia: world’s first nation of innovators

For the first couple of centuries of European occupation of Australia the history of its Indigenous people, as written by white fellas, drew heavily on adjectives like ‘primitive’.

As both a white fella and an anthropologist devoting much of my time to writing about human origins, I can only try to imagine the devastating effects this has had on people’s lives.

Without doubt it has played a role in the long battle Indigenous communities have had for acceptance by the wider community; being central to issues like land rights, and today, constitutional change and calls for a treaty.

To many anthropologists and archaeologists, based especially in the northern hemisphere, Australia was seen as an uninteresting backwater. The continent being settled very late in prehistory - they thought - and well after humanity’s major cultural achievements had already occurred.

This view slowly began to change with the discovery that Australia had in fact been occupied for tens of thousands of years. The unearthing of the Mungo Lady and Mungo Man at the Willandra Lakes in southwest New South Wales during the 1970s showed that people had been here for close to 40 thousand years.

But this was just the first in a series of discoveries and rethinks that would come to show the continent’s Indigenous people were truly pioneers in the global (collective) journey of humankind.

The ‘Innovation Nation’, the Prime Minister hopes we will become, began with these ancient Australians, and they racked up a large number of cultural world ‘firsts’, which we should all recognise and celebrate.

Here are just a four examples that show Australia was the world’s first Innovation Nation.

A long and perilous journey

Just getting to Australia was a remarkable feat in itself. Hundreds of kilometres of open sea to be crossed, and to a continent no one knew existed for certain.

But get here they did, and flourish they did. Australia saw the world’s first cross-horizon maritime journey by a people who would go on to discover an entire continent.

A continent of strange plants and animals; more than its fair share of deadly creatures; and landscapes varying from snow capped mountains to hot deserts, rainforests, chains of seasonal lakes and crocodile infested estuaries.

The first people settled Australia at least 50 thousand years ago, and by at least 30 thousand years ago, had settled most or all of the continent.

For some archaeologists, the settlement of the island continent marks no less than the emergence of the human mind itself!

Sense of the afterlife

The earliest Australians had a rich spiritual and symbol filled culture, with a strong sense of the afterlife. Around 40 thousand years ago the Mungo Lady was cremated, the world’s first cremation. At about the same time the Mungo Man’s body was sprinkled or painted in red pigment (ochre), the first time we saw such an elaborate burial anywhere in the world.

Early innovators in tools

Australia now lays claim to the oldest edge-ground axe, following a new report by a team of Australian archaeologists led by Peter Hiscock of the University of Sydney and published in the journal Australian Archaeology.

The tool, dated between 49 and 44 thousand years old, is the oldest example of the kind of axe that we might expect to see in our local hardware store (if they were still made from stone that is!): a ground cutting edge, mounted on a balanced handle.

It’s the kind of tool that takes careful planning and high skill to make, has multiple stages in production and multiple elements, and would be ideal for the kinds of tasks we would use an axe for today.

The discovery tells us that the first settlers of Australia stepped up to the challenges the continent posed to them and invented new and sophisticated tools to make a success of the place.

It also marks a very ancient cultural connection between these early pioneers and Indigenous people today, with edge-ground tools still being made until very recently.

Earliest cosmetic physicians

Just like today, where people tattoo or pierce their skin with items of jewellery, or even put themselves through cosmetic surgery, traditional cultures across the world turned to artificial means to enhance or alter their appearance.

In the past people filed or knocked-out (‘evulsed’) their teeth, scarified their skin, performed circumcisions or manipulated the skulls of their babies so they would grow up with distinctively shaped heads.

Some ancient skulls from the Willandra Lakes, Kow Swamp and various other places in Australia have rather unusual shapes. And when anthropologists have compared them to skulls from other cultures, such as in New Guinea or South America, where infant heads were manipulated by their mothers for cultural reasons, they look remarkably similar.

So, Australia has the oldest evidence for deliberately shaping the bones of the skull to produce a distinctive head shape. It’s the earliest known example of cosmetic treatment!

Each year tourists flock to our nation from around the world to experience the richness of Indigenous culture and the remarkably ancient sites and landscapes the country has.

Yet, so many of us at home place too little value on the history and heritage of our nation, as well as the central place Indigenous Australians hold in the common evolutionary story of our species.

At the core of this choice is the value we place as a predominantly Anglocentric nation on the heritage and history of ‘others’. In this case, our fellow (Indigenous) Australians.

We continue to put more value on the places of pilgrimage of our Anglo and Western heritage – places like Stonehenge, the Roman Colosseum or the Greek Parthenon – than we do those of cultural and even evolutionary significance in our own backyard.

By doing so, we are the poorer for it as a nation, and miss the chance celebrate key milestones in the origin of humankind that played out right here, in Australia.
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Reference:

Curnoe, Darren. 2016. “Ancient Australia: world’s first nation of innovators”. The Conversation. Posted: May 11, 2016. Available online: https://theconversation.com/ancient-australia-worlds-first-nation-of-innovators-59245

First Lancet global snapshot of indigenous peoples health released

A world-first University of Melbourne-led study into the health and wellbeing of more than 154 million Indigenous and tribal people globally reveals the extent of work that needs to be done if the United Nations is to meet its 2030 goals of ending poverty and inequality.

The Indigenous and tribal peoples' health (The Lancet-Lowitja Institute Global Collaboration): A Population Study, commissioned by Australia's Lowitja Institute, is the most comprehensive ever compiled by world health experts.

It brings together data from 28 indigenous and tribal groups across 23 countries - accounting for more than half of the world's native populations.

Lead author Professor Ian Anderson, Chair of Indigenous Education and Pro Vice Chancellor of Engagement at the University of Melbourne, said the key to the success of the report was in the international collaboration of 65 world-leading experts in Indigenous health.

"What was absolutely critical and unique to this project was being able to work with authors and contributors across the 23 countries," Prof Anderson said.

Romlie Mokak, chief executive of the Lowitja Institute, said the research represented an important milestone for the institute.

"The Lowitja Institute values the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and we extend that purpose to our international global Indigenous family," Mr Mokak said.

"The study highlights the importance of global networks that bring together Indigenous health experts, academics and policymakers to effect positive outcomes for First Peoples. Providing leadership in this area is very important."

The study responds to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development signed in September 2015 with the stated aim to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate changes, while ensuring that no one is left behind.

The participating countries included Australia, United States, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Russia, China, India, Thailand, Pakistan, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Myanmar, Kenya, Peru, Panama, Venezuela, Cameroon and Nigeria.

Researchers assessed data on basic population, life expectancy at birth, infant mortality, low and high birthweight, maternal mortality, nutritional status, educational attainment, poverty and economic status. They did not make cross-country comparisons.

Key findings and recommendations include:

• Health and wellbeing is generally poorer for Indigenous and tribal peoples, although the level of disadvantage varies across nations.
• Being Indigenous in a wealthy country does not necessarily lead to better outcomes
• National governments need to develop targeted policy responses to Indigenous health, improving access to health services, and Indigenous data within national surveillance systems.

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Reference:

EurekAlert. 2016. “First Lancet global snapshot of indigenous peoples health released”. EurekAlert. Posted: April 21, 2016. Available online: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-04/uom-flg042116.php

Penn, Notre Dame researchers mapping genetic history of the Caribbean

In the island chain called the Lesser Antilles, stretching from the Virgin Islands south to Trinidad and Tobago, a team of researchers lead by Theodore Schurr, an anthropology professor in the University of Pennsylvania's School of Arts & Sciences, is solving a generations-old mystery: Do indigenous communities still exist in the Caribbean region today?

"We're really trying to connect the dots and understand the migration, the flow of people in and out of the region," said Schurr, who has worked in the area since 2012 and on similar genetics projects for more than two decades. "Each island seems to have its distinct history."

Schurr and his team, which includes Jill Gaieski of Penn's Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, Miguel Vilar, a Penn postdoc at the time of the research and now at the National Geographic Society, and Jada Benn Torres from Notre Dame University, focused their research on DNA samples from 88 participants in the First Peoples Community in Trinidad and the Garifuna people in St. Vincent.

By looking at mitochondrial DNA, Y-chromosomes and autosomal markers, three parts of the genome known for containing what Schurr described as "signals" of indigenous ancestry, the researchers eventually detected 42 percent indigenous ancestry from the maternal side, 28 percent from the paternal side.

Mitochondrial DNA comes from the mother only, regardless of the number of generations considered. The Y-chromosome is the paternal correlate, or the complement to mitochondrial DNA, passed from fathers to sons. Autosomes, only recently included in this area of research, do not reveal specific details about maternal and paternal lineage but give an overall picture of the genetic contributions from ancestors traced through both the mother's and father's sides of the family.

"In the case of the mitochondrial DNA and the Y-chromosome," Schurr said, "we know the markers that define those lineages commonly seen in indigenous populations of the Americas."

During the past three years, Schurr and his colleagues have done fieldwork in St. Vincent and Trinidad. "These communities are not passive in this whole process; they're actively exploring their own ancestry," said Schurr. "They're also trying to establish the fact that they have indigenous ancestry, that they are the descendants of the original inhabitants. They're reclaiming that history."

The work began as part of the Genographic Project, which was started and initially funded by the National Geographic Society. It is a multi-institutional endeavor with the goal of mapping the globe genetically. A dozen research labs around the world analyzed DNA samples from indigenous and traditional communities, and a public participation component of the project allowed anyone to submit DNA for analysis in the database. Schurr's contribution involved indigenous communities of the Americas.

Expanding into parts of the Caribbean made sense. "It was an opportunity to actually add new information about an area that is relatively well described archaeologically but not so much so genetically," he said.

Schurr has already completed a similar study in Puerto Rico and recently began a larger project in the Dominican Republic.

Immersion in these communities has been eye opening, he said.

"You don't fully appreciate what's happening on the ground until you're there -- not only meeting people and getting to know them and their perspectives, their history, but absorbing details about the environment, the climate, how people make a living, the current state of economic development," he added. "You learn about the early colonial history of these islands as well as indigenous perspectives on this history."
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Reference:

EurekAlert. 2016. “Penn, Notre Dame researchers mapping genetic history of the Caribbean”. EurekAlert. Posted: November 5, 2015. Available online: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-11/uop-pnd110515.php

Urban Aboriginal people face unique health challenges

For the first time, researchers have access to detailed information about how an urban Aboriginal population in Canada uses health care. A new study, called Our Health Counts, uses this health database to clearly demonstrate the unique challenges faced by urban Aboriginal people in Canada – according to researchers at St. Michael's Hospital.

The findings, published today in BMJ Open, illustrate striking disparities between urban First Nations individuals and the general population.

Researchers interviewed 554 First Nations adults in Hamilton, Ont. – chosen for its large Aboriginal population and strong infrastructure of Aboriginal community health and social services. Researchers collected data for factors that influence a person's health such as poverty, illness and income for Hamilton's First Nations population.

"Compared to Hamilton's general adult population, we found elevated emergency room use, multiple barriers to health care access and significant rates of chronic disease among urban Aboriginal adults," said Dr. Michelle Firestone, an associate scientist with St. Michael's Hospital's Centre for Research on Inner City Health.

More than 10 per cent of First Nations adults visited the emergency room six times or more in the previous two years – only 1.6 per cent of Hamilton's general adult population could say the same.

"Hamilton has extensive health and social services but 40 per cent of respondents felt their access to health care was either fair or poor," said Dr. Firestone, who holds a PhD in public health. "This shows geography is not the only health care barrier for First Nations people."

Almost half of respondents reported that long waiting lists to see a specialist were a barrier. Other common barriers included not being able to arrange transportation; not being able to afford direct costs or transportation; services not covered by non-insured health benefits and lack of trust in health care providers.

More than 60 per cent of Aboriginal people living in Ontario live in urban areas. An increasing number of First Nations individuals are moving to urban centers to seek better housing, employment and education opportunities and for the services and amenities available.

The most common chronic conditions of Hamilton's First Nations adults included arthritis (30.7 per cent), high blood pressure (25.8 per cent), asthma (19 per cent) and diabetes (15.6 per cent).

Among First Nations adults living in Hamilton:

• 73 per cent of respondents reported an upper respiratory tract infection in the past 12 months
• 25 per cent reported having been injured over the past 12 months
• 78 per cent earn less than $20,000 per year
• 70 per cent live in the city's lowest-income neighbourhoods

Aboriginal people are often excluded, unidentified, or under-represented in most Canadian health information databases. Our Health Counts fills this health information void by using respondent-driven sampling – a research method used to recruit hidden or stigmatized populations by relying on participants to identify the next wave of study recruits. Our Health Counts is the first respondent-driven sampling of urban First Nations people in Canada.

"Our Health Counts is a significant contribution to public health," said Dr. Firestone. "This data will have important implications for health service delivery, programming and policy development. It should directly inform strategic directions and improve health of urban Aboriginal people in Ontario."
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References:

EurekAlert. 2014. “Urban Aboriginal people face unique health challenges”. EurekAlert. Posted: July 10, 2014. Available online: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-07/smh-uap070914.php

Imperiled Amazon Indians Make 1st Contact with Outsiders

Indigenous people with no prior contact to the outside world have just emerged from the Amazon rainforest in Brazil and made contact with a group of settled Indians, after being spotted migrating to evade illegal loggers, advocates say.

The news, which was released yesterday (July 2), comes after sightings of the uncontacted Indians in Brazil near the border with Peru, according to the group Survival International. Officials with the organization had warned last month that the isolated tribes face threats of disease and violence as they moved into new territory and possibly encountered other people.

"Something serious must have happened," José Carlos Meirelles, a former official with the Brazilian Indian Affairs Department FUNAI, said in a statement. "It is not normal for such a large group of uncontacted Indians to approach in this way. This is a completely new and worrying situation, and we currently do not know what has caused it."

Survival International officials said dozens of uncontacted Indians were recently spotted close to the home of the Ashaninka Indians in Brazil's Acre state along the Envira River, while a government investigation in the region uncovered more ephemeral traces of the tribe on the move: footprints, temporary camps and food leftovers. On Sunday (June 29), reports suggest, the vulnerable group of Indians made contact with the Asháninka.

Advocates think the Indians crossed into Brazil from Peru to escape drug traffickers and illegal loggers who started working in their territory, Fiona Watson, research and field director for Survival International, told Live Science in an email.

Advocates warned this could be a deadly development.

As they travel, the tribe may be at risk of clashes with other groups and contagious diseases to which they have no immunity. Illnesses like the flu and malaria, for example, devastated the Zo'e tribe in northern Brazil after Christian missionaries established a base camp in the area in the 1980s.

"I am from the same area as they are," Nixiwaka Yawanawá, an Indian from Brazil's Acre state, said in a statement. "It is very worrying that my relatives are at risk of disappearing. It shows the injustice that we face today. They are even more vulnerable because they can’t communicate with the authorities. Both governments must act now to protect and to stop a disaster against my people," added Yawanawá, who joined Survival to speak out for the rights of such indigenous peoples.

Another uncontacted tribe was famously photographed near the Brazil-Peru border in 2008. Images released by Survival International at the time showed men pointing arrows at the plane photographing them. In 2011, a government post that was monitoring the area was overrun by illegal loggers and drug smugglers.

"International borders don't exist for uncontacted tribes, which is why Peru and Brazil must work together to prevent lives being lost," Survival director Stephen Corry urged in the statement. "Both governments must act now if their uncontacted citizens are to survive."
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References:

Gannon, Megan. 2014. “Imperiled Amazon Indians Make 1st Contact with Outsiders”. Live Science. Posted: July 3, 2014. Available online: http://www.livescience.com/46610-amazon-tribe-makes-first-outside-contact.html

Search for Inca 'lost city' in Amazon may endanger indigenous people

A six-week expedition starting in July will try to find Paititi in the Megantoni National Sanctuary in south-east Peru

A French writer and adventurer plans to explore one of the most remote parts of the Peruvian Amazon in search of a "lost" or "secret city" that may have been built by the Incas, but there are fears that the expedition could endanger the health of isolated tribes that have never been exposed to common human diseases.

Thierry Jamin believes that the city, which he calls "Paititi", could lie somewhere in a 215,000-hectare protected area called the Megantoni National Sanctuary in the Cuzco region of south-east Peru.

"The magnificent discoveries realised by my group in the valleys of Lacco, Chunchusmayo and Cusirini in the north of the department of Cuzco lead towards a precise zone situated in the national sanctuary of Megantoni," Jamin told the Guardian via email.

"Several natives of the forest – Matsiguengas – assert that 'monumental ruins' exist at the top of a strange square mountain. I think that we are very close to officialise the existence of this big archaeological site."

According to his website, Jamin is planning a six-week expedition starting in July. He will be assisted by an NGO based in Cuzco that he leads and a group of Machiguengas from a village near the sanctuary.

His website describes Paititi, or "Paititi-Eldorado", as the "Incas' secret city" – "one of the most fascinating stories of the Inca mythology", the "biggest archaeological enigma of South America", and the place where the Incas hid "all the treasures of [their] empire" when Europeans invaded.

The search for Paititi or an Inca "lost city" has attracted scores of people and considerable controversy ever since the 16th century, with conflicting theories and ideas about where it might be and whether it really exists.

But some experts fear that such an expedition would pose a threat to isolated indigenous Nanti people – sometimes called "Kugapakoris" – within the sanctuary. One of the main reasons for the sanctuary's creation 10 years ago was to protect groups of indigenous people who have had little or no contact with outsiders and are extremely vulnerable to infectious diseases because of their lack of resistance.

According to the sanctuary's "master plan" for 2007-2011 – a 160-page government document outlining strategies and programmes to manage the area – the 215,000 hectares are divided into a number of "zones" where different activities are permitted. The biggest, most remote zone is in the sanctuary's far east and is called the "Strict Protection Zone" (ZPA). Its first stated aim is to protect "voluntarily isolated indigenous people", with scientific investigation only allowed in "exceptional circumstances".

Jamin is keeping the precise destination of the expedition a secret, but told the Guardian he intended to travel up the river Ticumpinia – not the river Timpia where he said there were "numerous Kuga-Pakuri communities".

"We don't want to tell anyone about our study zones, nor disseminate the exact locations of the sites we have found," he said.

Lelis Rivera, who works for the NGO Cedia and played a key role in the sanctuary's creation, pointed out that the presence of any outsiders in the sanctuary "could cause danger to the people living there" and that entering the ZPA in particular is "completely prohibited" by Peruvian law.

"Any people currently living in the upper Timpia or Ticumpinia regions are extremely vulnerable to germ transmission – that's the nature of living in relative social and immunological isolation," said anthropologist Christine Beier from the NGO Cabeceras Aid Project and one of the world's leading experts on Nanti society and history.

Jamin told the Guardian that he will apply to the ministry of environment, which oversees management of "protected natural areas", for permission to enter the Megantoni sanctuary. He said he has already applied for permission from the ministry of culture.

However, Ramon Rivero Mejia at the culture ministry says it has received no application from either Jamin, any member of his team or the NGO that Jamin presides over.

Some experts doubt that Paititi is where Jamin thinks it is. "The Incas conquered territories of the Machiguenga and Piro and built roads, bridges and some fortified settlements, meaning it's possible that in Megantoni some Inca-type buildings and objects will be found," said Martti Parssinen, a Finnish archaeologist and historian who has researched Peru and the Incas for decades.

"Nevertheless, Paititi is not there … At first, it was located from the confluence of the Madre de Díos and the Beni rivers toward the east or south, but during the colonial period some Inca refugees probably reestablished it near the present Brazilian Pacaas Novos mountains."

Asked by the Guardian why he thinks archaeological remains in Megantoni might be related to the Incas, Jamin said: "We don't know if they're Inca or pre-Inca. One of the objectives of our 2014 campaign will be to establish that."
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References:

Hill, David. 2014. “Search for Inca 'lost city' in Amazon may endanger indigenous people”. The Guardian. Posted: April 7, 2014. Available online: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/apr/07/search-inca-lost-city-amazon-peru-paititi

Indigenous societies' 'first contact' typically brings collapse, but rebounds are possible

It was disastrous when Europeans first arrived in what would become Brazil -- 95 percent of its population, the majority of its tribes, and essentially all of its urban and agricultural infrastructure vanished. The experiences of Brazil's indigenous societies mirror those of other indigenous peoples following "first contact."

A new study of Brazil's indigenous societies led by Santa Fe Institute researcher Marcus Hamilton paints a grim picture of their experiences, but also offers a glimmer of hope to those seeking ways to preserve indigenous societies.

Even among the indigenous societies contacted in just the last 50 years, says Hamilton, "all of them went through a collapse, and for the majority of them it was disastrous," with disease and violence responsible in most cases, and with lasting detrimental effects. "That's going on today -- right now."

Brazil is "a tragic natural experiment," Hamilton says: several hundred native tribes contacted by outsiders remain, according to Instituto Socioambiental, a non-governmental organization that reports census data on 238 of those societies going back a half-century or more. That volume of data makes possible a detailed analysis of the health and prospects of the surviving contacted -- and uncontacted -- societies, an analysis that wouldn't be possible any where else in the world.

Using a method called population viability analysis, the researchers found that contact by outsiders is typically catastrophic, yet survivable. While first contacts in Brazil led to population declines of 43 percent on average, that decline bottomed out an average of eight or nine years after contact, following which population numbers grew as much as four percent a year -- about as much as possible. Projecting those results into the future suggests that contacted and as-yet uncontacted populations could recover from a low of just 100 individuals.

Hamilton and co-authors Robert Walker and Dylan Kesler of the University of Missouri describe their analysis in a paper published this week in Scientific Reports.

While their analysis paints a hopeful picture, Hamilton notes that deforestation, the breakdown of interactions between tribes, and assimilation with the outside world pose ongoing threats to indigenous societies.

"Demographically they're healthy," Hamilton says, but as for their long-term survival, "it's very up in the air."
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References:

EurekAlert. 2014. “Indigenous societies' 'first contact' typically brings collapse, but rebounds are possible”. EurekAlert. Posted: April 3, 104. Available online: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-04/sfi-is040314.php

How many uncontacted tribes are left in the world?

In mid-August it was reported that the Mashco-Piro, an indigenous tribe in the Peruvian Amazon, has been trying to make contact with outsiders, possibly over anger at logging encroaching on their territory. In the past, the Mashco-Piro have resisted interaction with strangers, avoiding and sometimes killing any they encounter. The news raised questions about how such tribes still exist and how Western societies should respond to them.

How many uncontacted tribes are still left?

No one knows for sure. At a rough guess, there are probably more than 100 around the world, mostly in Amazonia and New Guinea, says Rebecca Spooner of Survival International, a London-based organization that advocates for the rights of indigenous peoples. Brazil’s count is likely to be the most accurate. The government there has identified 77 uncontacted tribes through aerial surveys and by talking to more Westernized indigenous groups about their neighbors.

There are thought to be around 15 uncontacted tribes in Peru, a handful in other Amazonian countries, a few dozen in the Indonesian part of the island of New Guinea and two tribes in the Andaman Islands off the coast of India. There may also be some in Malaysia and central Africa.

Have they really had no contact with the outside world?

Most have had a little, at least indirectly. “There’s always some contact with other isolated tribes, which have contact with other indigenous people, which in turn have contact with the outside world,” says Spooner.

Many of the Amazon tribes choose to avoid contact with outsiders because they have had unpleasant encounters in the past. The Mashco-Piro, for example, abandoned their settled gardens and fled into the forest. According to Glenn Shepard, an ethnologist at the Emilio Goeldi Museum in Belem, Brazil, this happened after rubber companies massacred tribespeople at the turn of the 20th century.

Some researchers refer to such tribes as “voluntarily isolated,” rather than uncontacted.

Are there guidelines for how best to approach such tribes?

In Peru, laws prohibit outsiders from initiating contact with isolated groups in most cases. They also provide protected areas where tribes can live in peace — though loopholes allow oil and mining companies into those areas. Brazil has similar laws and policies that allow contact only in life-threatening situations.

Anthropologists have an ethical obligation to do no harm to their research subjects, according to the American Anthropological Association. However, they are rarely the first people to make contact with indigenous groups — missionaries and resource developers almost always get there first, says Kim Hill, an anthropologist at Arizona State University who has worked with several recently contacted tribes.

Why would tribes choose to end their isolation?

Often, they feel forced out by encroaching civilization, says Spooner. Survival International has documented cases where settlements have been bulldozed and tribespeople harassed or killed. This leaves the survivors feeling like they have no option but to give up.

Others suggest that tribes may seek contact with outsiders because they begin to trust their intentions, Hill says. Modern medicine, metal tools and education can also exert a powerful pull.

What happens then?

Often, there is a lot of disease because the tribespeople are exposed to novel pathogens. It is not uncommon for half the population to die of respiratory illness, unless outsiders bring sustained medical care, Hill says.
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References:

Holmes, Bob. 2013. “How many uncontacted tribes are left in the world?”. The Washington Post. Posted: September 2, 2013. Available online: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/how-many-uncontacted-tribes-are-left-in-the-world/2013/08/30/ceb1ed24-0e4d-11e3-bdf6-e4fc677d94a1_story.html

Dictionaries shed light on endangered Indigenous languages

Texts previously unknown to modern academics uncovered in research project that will help to preserve culture and identity

Hidden away on a shelf at the Mitchell library in Sydney sat what Dr Michael Walsh thought was a chunky volume from the New South Wales state library's vast collection of colonial manuscripts.

He pulled it from the shelves only to realise it wasn't a book but a box, containing two notebooks. He flicked through the first pages which contained, in Walsh's words, "a lot of doodles" – but on page seven things got interesting.

"A short vocabulary of the natives of Raffles Bay," it said. Walsh had just rediscovered a guide to the Indigenous languages used near a British settlement on the coast of the Northern Territory, written by the Victorian colonialist Charles Tyres. The text had been unknown to modern academics.

"At that time I figured, well, probably no one knows about this because I only stumbled across it by dumb luck," says a modest Walsh. But the notebooks form part of a huge array of documents uncovered at the state library.

A two-year research project, headed by Walsh, has sifted through 14km worth of colonial manuscripts that shed light on 100 Indigenous languages, many of which were considered lost before the finds.

Walsh describes another of the discoveries he's particularly proud of, a 130-page trilingual dictionary in German and the Indigenous languages of Diyari and Wangkangurru from the north-east of South Australia. Diyari has been undergoing a revival in an attempt to keep it in active use.

"Compared to some of the other resources that might be as small as 20 words, this is quite a substantial addition … so to suddenly get 130 pages from the late 19th century popping up is quite a find," Walsh says.

The jubilation of unearthing such a document is beset by a sobering reality. The federal government estimates that 145 Indigenous languages are still spoken in the country, but an overwhelming 110 are threatened with extinction.

These documents, collected in part to harvest knowledge amid attempts to exert control on Australia's Indigenous population, will now help to preserve that culture.

"There is a certain irony there, I guess," Walsh says. "One harsh view would say that the people who were collecting this stuff were colonialists who were basically intent on stealing Aboriginal land ... settling the country and opening it up to pastoralism.

"Whichever way you look at it their main intention was not necessarily all that benign for Aboriginal interests.

"In some instances though, [there were people] like Charles Tyres, who did have a reputation for being quite sympathetic towards Aboriginal people and treating them with respect, whereas the others it's not quite as savoury a story."

Walsh, a linguistics professor at the University of Sydney, obviously takes great joy in the academic rigour and investigative nature of the research but he is keenly aware that these discoveries have a tangible, pragmatic end.

"People, especially in New South Wales, will tell me that once I regain my language through language revitalisation, I also regain my identity, not just as a Koori … but I'm a specific people," says Walsh.

"Some of those people also say that once they've regained their identity, they sort of improve as people. There are people who have been dysfunctional with the police, getting drunk, not being able to hold down steady employment, they say that it's the language that brought them back into the world – because of that regaining of identity."

The research phase of the project is drawing to a close, with the next step being to disseminate the findings to the relevant Indigenous communities and language experts. The library hopes, with the correct cultural approval, to digitise the discoveries to make them more easily accessible. Walsh says speakers of some of the languages are scattered around the world.
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References:

Laughland, Oliver. 2013. “Dictionaries shed light on endangered Indigenous languages”. The Guardian. Posted: August 28, 2013. Available online: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/28/dictionaries-shed-light-indigenous-languages

Venezuela: 'No evidence' of Yanomami killing

Venezuelan officials investigating a reported mass killing of Yanomami indigenous people say the have found no evidence of the alleged attack.

On Wednesday, a group representing the Yanomami had said that up to 80 of their members had been killed by illegal gold miners.

Minister of Indigenous Peoples Nicia Maldonado said a team had travelled to the area by helicopter.

She said they had failed to located the bodies witnesses had described finding.

"No evidence of any death was found," Ms Maldonado told state television.

Gen Jose Eliecer Pinto of the National Guard told the Ultimas Noticias newspaper that he had visited four indigenous communities along with other officials and that "everything is fine there".

A statement from a network of Yanomami groups had described how illegal gold miners had allegedly set fire to a communal house, and how witnesses reported finding burnt bodies.

Indigenous rights campaigners say the Venezuelan officials may have failed to find the community in question, which is based in a remote jungle location.
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References:

BBC News. 2012. “Venezuela: 'No evidence' of Yanomami killing”. BBC News. Posted: September 2, 2012. Available online: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-19460663

Prehistoric Dog Lived, Died Among Humans

Remains of the Husky-like dog, buried 7,000 years ago in Siberia, suggest people saw it as a thinking, social being.

Burial remains of a dog that lived over 7,000 years ago in Siberia suggest the male Husky-like animal probably lived and died similar to how humans did at that time and place, eating the same food, sustaining work injuries, and getting a human-like burial.

"Based on how northern indigenous people understand animals in historic times, I think the people burying this particular dog saw it as a thinking, social being, perhaps on par with humans in many ways," said Robert Losey, lead author of a study about the dog burial, which has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.

"I think the act of treating it as a human upon its death indicates that people knew it had a soul, and that the mortuary rites it received were meant to ensure that this soul was properly cared for," added Losey, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Alberta.

For the study, Losey collaborated with excavation director Vladimir Bazaliiskii and researchers Sandra Garvie-Lok, Mietje Germonpre, Jennifer Leonard, Andrew Allen, Anne Katzenberg, and Mikhail Sablin. Bazaliiskii found the buried dog at the Shamanka cemetery near Lake Baikal, Siberia.

"Just like the humans in the cemetery, the dog was buried with other items, (such as) a long spoon made of antler," Losey said.

The dog was carefully laid to rest lying on his right side in a grave pit that, at other levels, also contained five partial human skeletons.

DNA and stable isotope analysis determined the animal was indeed a dog and that he ate exactly what humans at the site consumed: fish, freshwater seal meat, deer, small mammals, and some plant foods.

The canine's life, as well as that of the people, wasn't easy, though.

"The dog's skeleton, particularly its vertebrate spines, suggests that it was repeatedly used to transport loads," Losey explained. "This could have included carrying gear on its back that was used in daily activities like hunting, fishing, and gathering plant foods and firewood. The dog also could have been used to transport gear for the purposes of relocating settlements on a seasonal basis."

Additional fractures suggest the dog suffered numerous blows during its lifetime, possibly from the feet of red deer during hunting outings. The researchers cannot rule out that humans hit the dog, but its older age at burial, food provisions, and more suggest otherwise.

From the same general time period, the scientists also found a wolf burial at a site called Lokomotiv near the Irkut and Angara rivers in Siberia.

The wolf, which did not consume human-provided foods, appears to have died of old age. Its remains were found wrapped around a human skull. There is no evidence the wolf interacted with the person when alive.

"Perhaps the burial of the wolf with the human head placed between its feet was done to send the spirit or soul of the wolf with this particular human to the afterlife, perhaps as its protector," Losey said.

Susan Crockford, adjunct professor of anthropology at the University of Victoria and author of the book "A Practical Guide to In Situ Dog Remains for the Field Archaeologist" (2009), told Discovery News that she was "surprised to see the description of the wolf/human internment," she added. "That is definitely unusual."

Crockford isn't supporting any particular interpretation of the burials just yet, however, since she said, "There can be many reasons for the ritual treatment of dogs, including ones we might never imagine."
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References:

Viegas, Jennifer. 2011. "Prehistoric Dog Lived, Died Among Humans". Discovery News. Posted: February 28, 2011. Available online: http://news.discovery.com/animals/ancient-dog-burial-siberia-110228.html

Uncontacted Amazonian Tribe Spotted in Rare Photos: Big Pics

Brazil has allowed the release of rare photographs of an uncontacted Amazonian tribe to bring attention to the plight of indigenous people who rights groups say are faced with possible annihilation.

The astonishing images, showing curious adults and children peering skyward with their faces dyed reddish-orange and toting bows, arrows and spears, were taken by Brazil's National Indian Foundation (FUNAI).

Rights group Survival International, which accompanied the government agency on the overflight near the Brazil-Peru border, said their baskets were full of papaya and manioc grown in a communal garden.

"Illegal loggers will destroy this indigenous people. It is essential that the Peruvian government stop them before it is too late," warned Survival's director Stephen Corry.

FUNAI has released similar photographs in the past and acknowledged that Peruvian loggers are sending some indigenous people fleeing across the border to less-affected rainforests in Brazil.

In 2008, indigenous tribes expert José Carlos Meirelles released a set of photographs that allegedly documented an uncontacted tribe. Those images were later determined to be staged in an elaborate hoax that Meirelles claimed was intended to raise awareness of logging.

The coordinator of Brazil's Amazon Indian organization COIAB, Marcos Apurina, said he hoped the images would draw attention to the plight of the indigenous peoples and encourage their protection.

"It is necessary to reaffirm that these peoples exist, so we support the use of images that prove these facts. These peoples have had their most fundamental rights, particularly their right to life, ignored -- it is therefore crucial that we protect them," he said.

FUNAI says there are 67 tribes in Brazil that do not have sustained contact with the outside world. Some are often referred to as "uncontacted" tribes even though they have some kind of, albeit limited, contacts.

A year ago, rights groups sent a letter to then president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva voicing concern that the very survival of indigenous groups was under threat.

Brazil's latest census counted more than 500,000 indigenous people among more than 190 million Brazilians. Millions in the country, however, have some indigenous ancestry.

Most indigenous people in the Americas descend from Asian people who crossed a land bridge from Siberia, an estimated 13,000-17,000 years ago. One notable exception: the indigenous people on Chile's Easter island, in the Pacific, are ethnic (Rapa Nui) Polynesians.
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References:

Discovery News. 2011. "Uncontacted Amazonian Tribe Spotted in Rare Photos: Big Pics". Discovery News. Posted: February 1, 2011. Available online: http://news.discovery.com/human/amazon-tribe-rare-photos-110201.html

Photos credit: Gleison Miranda/FUNAI/Survival

Native Island Tribe Redefining Survival: Slide Show

Go to the website to see the slide show. Enjoy!

Living Legend

Many Kalinago members bear a striking resemblance to natives in the Orinoco River Basin of South America because their ancestors are said to have come from that region.

Mixed Memory

Several years ago, some tribal members raised concerns that the Kalinago’s bloodline was becoming diluted by mixing with outsiders. A heated debate ensued after one chief proposed that the Kalinago only marry each other. The mandate never took off, but it did broaden cultural perspectives. These days, the Kalinago are focusing less on whose physical features seem more indigenous and more on what common life ways bond them together.

Serenity in Survival

Kalinago young people say dressing in their native costumes for special occasions and performances is one of the best ways to reinforce their sense of cultural pride.

Important Marketing Tool

The Kalinago have learned that jewelry, costumes, and headdresses help audiences to appreciate their indigenous roots.

Dancing towards Sustainability

Dance performances like this one are an excellent tourist attraction for Kalinago Village, the single most-important generator of income in Dominica’s Carib Territory.

Bolder and Prouder

Thanks to the 2006 construction of the Kalinago Village cultural center, children like this don’t need to be shy about their identity.

Starting Young

A young Kalinago boy is already learning how to play drums and perform traditional music at Kalinago Village.

Rugged Land

Because Dominica is so mountainous and rugged, the Kalinago people were protected from some of the most aggressive years of colonization in the West Indies. On other islands, the vast majority of Carib and Arawak natives were slaughtered, died of disease, or committed suicide to avoid enslavement.

Natural Wonders

Dominica’s rugged, mountainous terrain has helped to protect native peoples and plants.

Looking Back

The Kalinago have survived in Dominica for thousands of years. Their endurance hinges on breaking the poverty cycle so that future generations aren’t tempted to stray so far from their ancestral lands.
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References:

Gage, Julienne. 2010. "Native Island Tribe Redefining Survival: Slide Show". Discovery News. Posted: N/A. Available online: http://news.discovery.com/human/indigenous-kalinago-tribe-survival-dominica.html