The raging drug wars and civil strife in the Amazon forests are threatening the survival of Amazon nomads, Nukak. And if nothing is done on time then one of the its kind civilization would come to and end soon. The growing clashes between coca-plant-growing colonists, right-wing paramilitaries, left-wing guerrillas, and Colombian anti-drug troops are threatening the very existence of Nukak. The situation has worsened to such an extant that one of the tribe leaders had to commit suicide, when he could not bear the circumstances anymore and the same trouble forced as many as 120 Nukak to walk half-naked out of the forest to meet authorities and demand an end of their problems.
Luis Evelis Andrade of Organizacion Nacional Indigena de Colombia (ONIC), a Bogota, Colombia-based indigenous-rights group working with the tribe said:
The guerilla groups think that Nukak are collaborators with the government, and the government troops think they are collaborating with the guerillas.
For ages the Nukak Maku have lived nomadic existences in the deep tropical forests of southern Colombia, near Guaviare River. Even today tribe’s members have a unique practice, to hunt game with blowguns, fish with bows and arrows, and gather berries, which is hard to find in this era of gizmos and gadgets. Interestingly Nukak made first contact with modern society only in 1988. It is estimated that only 500 remaining members of the Nukak are worse affected by this ongoing crisis.
The need of the hour is to take some concrete steps that would make the habitat of Nukak more conducive for survival.
Source: Nationalgeographic