# Uncontacted Amazon tribes and the morality of the Prime Directive **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 11, 2017, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncontacted-amazon-tribes-and-the-morality-of-the-prime-directive/796044 "2017-09-11T01:48:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncontacted-amazon-tribes-and-the-morality-of-the-prime-directive/796044/41 "2017-09-12T17:13:01Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > This is the part that’s fascinating to me. IANAL, and I certainly don’t understand much of the Brazilian legal system, but it’s my vague understanding that there were actual legal prohibitions against interacting with these “uncontacted” groups, at least at some level. The libertarian in me doesn’t really have an issue if economics disincentivize interaction and no one chooses to open a stock market in the Amazon to help these people out, or if the tribesmen themselves would rather forage for roots and berries in the jungle than participate in modern society (although I’d be surprised if that was a popular opinion). That’s fine if we or they don’t _want_ to interact with each other, but in this case, at least as far as I understand it, the government has taken that choice out of our hands, and theirs, and _prohibited_ interaction with legal force. Why? And was that an evil decision? I’m no expert on such laws, but I think you are misunderstanding how they work. The laws don’t prevent you from interacting with them. If one of them showed up on your doorstep and asked directions to the nearest 7-11, you could tell him exactly where it is. What the laws do is give certain tribes a legal status to their territories such that you are prohibited from entering the territory. The government is creating a separate category from “land ownership”, but it’s still pretty much like the idea that no one can just walk onto your property if you don’t want to allow them to. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncontacted-amazon-tribes-and-the-morality-of-the-prime-directive/796044/42 "2017-09-12T17:15:32Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I’m no expert on such laws, but I think you are misunderstanding how they work. The laws don’t prevent you from interacting with them. If one of them showed up on your doorstep and asked directions to the nearest 7-11, you could tell him exactly where it is. What the laws do is give certain tribes a legal status to their territories such that you are prohibited from entering the territory. The government is creating a separate category from “land ownership”, but it’s still pretty much like the idea that no one can just walk onto your property if you don’t want to allow them to. Something vaguely like the Native American reservations we have here in America then? ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncontacted-amazon-tribes-and-the-morality-of-the-prime-directive/796044/43 "2017-09-12T17:33:51Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > \ We have science and medicine and wealth and modern conveniences that could markedly improve these people’s lives, extend their life expectancy and ease some the brutality and suffering of their primitive existence (or at least that of their children and grandchildren). Isn’t it a monstrous atrocity to withhold all of this from them? \ We allow Christian Scientists, the Amish, and other religious groups to go without these, based on their decision to do so. > [@](#): > > Inhabitants dying off in a mass extinction due to a plague / disease / effects of global warming that the crew could cure in a jiffy if it weren’t for that pesky Prime Directive. > > \ > > Isn’t it a terrible tragedy to stand by and let so many innocent beings suffer / die when it could be prevented, and with minimal effort? Depends…how do you feel about Medicaid and/or free universal healthcare? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncontacted-amazon-tribes-and-the-morality-of-the-prime-directive/796044/44 "2017-09-12T18:22:05Z")
In a world where billions are impoverished, destroying the culture of a handful of Amazonians so they can have cheap smartphones and shop at 7-Eleven is a very misplaced priority. OTOH, there are ethical, scientific and sentimental reasons to help them preserve their culture … although that is probably a lost cause. BTW, what language do the “uncontacted” people speak? In the article I didn’t even see a tribe name. > [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#): > > With due respect, I don’t think this is a very good argument. South American societies are very different today than they were in the 1960s, or the 1930s, or even more so the 1800s or the colonial era. They’re much more prosperous, more literate, more industrialized and modern, and they’ve largely internalized (to a greater extent than some other societies) liberal ideas about human rights, treatment of ethnic minorities, etc… Optimism is good, so perhaps you should be congratulated on your faith in modern progressive governance. But realists would laugh at your argument, perhaps pointing your attention toward “progressive” America. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncontacted-amazon-tribes-and-the-morality-of-the-prime-directive/796044/45 "2017-09-12T18:22:50Z")
If I may ask a somewhat related but not hijacking question: I read that there are some instances of uncontacted tribes killing people who get near them (i.e., the Sentinelese near India, killing two fishermen who got near.) What is the legal protocol with regards to crime as it pertains to uncontacted tribes? Do, or should, authorities prosecute the “homicides” at all or just let the tribesmen do their thing? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncontacted-amazon-tribes-and-the-morality-of-the-prime-directive/796044/46 "2017-09-12T18:24:20Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > [Here is a story](https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/09/10/world/americas/brazil-amazon-tribe-killings.html) about some “uncontacted” indigenous group in the rain forest in Brazil. Sadly it sounds like some of them were massacred in this instance, but the topic I really wanted to discuss was the morality of leaving these groups out of modern society. We have science and medicine and wealth and modern conveniences that could markedly improve these people’s lives Be it as it may, modern technology and society already brings enough grief as is. Maybe we could drop some food and fire-making tools and other things to them, but I think the uncontacted tribes are already in some way “fortunate” to live the way they do. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncontacted-amazon-tribes-and-the-morality-of-the-prime-directive/796044/47 "2017-09-12T19:11:24Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > If I may ask a somewhat related but not hijacking question: I read that there are some instances of uncontacted tribes killing people who get near them (i.e., the Sentinelese near India, killing two fishermen who got near.) What is the legal protocol with regards to crime as it pertains to uncontacted tribes? Do, or should, authorities prosecute the “homicides” at all or just let the tribesmen do their thing? According to the documentary I watched (and again, I don’t know who made it or what their angle is), tribesmen who commit crimes are not prosecuted. It’s part of the non-contact laws. One segment dealt with a village that was repeatedly raided by tribespeople–children murdered–and though the villagers were technically not allowed to fight back, you betcher sweet butt they were doing it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncontacted-amazon-tribes-and-the-morality-of-the-prime-directive/796044/48 "2017-09-12T19:11:41Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Something vaguely like the Native American reservations we have here in America then? Except native Americans are part of the modern world. And non-natives aren’t federally prohibited from visiting reservations. Each reservation has its own rules for visitors, but most have areas that are open to the public, and if you follow the laws of the reservation and the rules about where you can and can’t go, most reservations welcome visitors. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncontacted-amazon-tribes-and-the-morality-of-the-prime-directive/796044/49 "2017-09-12T20:58:59Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Be it as it may, modern technology and society already brings enough grief as is. Maybe we could drop some food and fire-making tools and other things to them, but I think the uncontacted tribes are already in some way “fortunate” to live the way they do. Is that really how you feel about modern society? That it brings “grief” and those without it are “fortunate”? There are certainly some downsides, but I think they are _massively_ outweighed by the upsides. Do you not though? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uncontacted-amazon-tribes-and-the-morality-of-the-prime-directive/796044.md?page=2)