Nomole | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| >750[1] (2024) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Peru | |
| Languages | |
| Mashco Piro |
TheMashco Piro, also known by theendonymNomole, are anindigenous tribe of nomadichunter-gatherers who inhabit the remote regions of theAmazon rainforest. They live inManú National Park in theMadre de Dios Region inPeru.[2] They have actively avoided contact with non-native peoples.
In 1998, theInternational Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) estimated their number to be around 100 to 250.[3] This is an increase from the 1976 estimated population of 20 to 100.[2] In 2024 their number was believed to be above 750.[1]
The Mashco Piro tribe speaks a dialect of thePiro language.[4]Mashco (originally spelled "Maschcos") is a term which was first used by Padre Biedma in 1687 to refer to theHarakmbut people.[5][6] It is considered a derogatory term, due to its meaning of'savages' in the Piro language;Nomole (relative) is the name the people apply to themselves.[2][7][8]
TheAmazon rubber boom began to affect the UpperUcayali in the early to mid 1880s and brought a wave of migrants to the region. While slavery was officially abolished in Peru in 1854, slave raids targeting indigenous peoples along the Ucayali and its tributaries became common occurrences.[9] Debt peonage was the legal excuse for the "ownership" of other peoples. The system of peonage as it was implemented in the rubber boom in Peru has been referred to as slavery by contemporary observers and anthropologist.[10][4][11] By 1891, most of the Piro people along the Urubamba were indebted to Peruvian rubber baronCarlos Fitzcarrald.[12]
After the development of a portage route named TheIsthmus of Fitzcarrald around 1893-1894, most of the Mashco Piro people in the upperManú River area were slaughtered by Fitzcarrald's private army.[13] The portage route connected the Urubamba tributary ofMishagua to the Manú River, a tributary ofMadre de Dios. This development facilitated the exploitation of indigenous people and rubber sources on the Peruvian side of the Madre de Dios River. Many Mashco and Piro people were also enslaved by Fitzcarrald's foremanCarlos Scharff between 1897 and 1909 along thePurús and Madre de Dios Rivers.[14] The survivors retreated to the remote forest areas. The sightings of the Mashco Piro tribe members increased in the 21st century. According to the anthropologist Glenn Shepard, who had an encounter with the Mashco Piro in 1999, the increased sightings of the tribe could be due toillegal logging in the area and low-flying aircraft associated with oil and gas exploration.[13]
In September 2007, a group ofecologists filmed about 20 members of the Mashco Piro tribe from ahelicopter flying above theAlto Purúsnational park.[15] The group had established camp on the banks of theLas Piedras river near thePeruvian andBrazilian border. Scientists believe that the tribe prefers to construct palm-leaf huts on riverbanks during thedry season forfishing. During thewet season, they retreat to therain forest. Similar huts were spotted in the 1980s.[16]
In October 2011, thePeru Ministry of Environment released a video of a few Mashco Piro, taken by some travelers.[17] Gabriella Galli, an Italian visitor to the park, also captured a photograph of the tribe members.[18]
In 2012,Survival International released some new photographs of the tribe members.[19] The archaeologist Diego Cortijo of the Spanish Geographical Society claimed to have captured photographs of a Mashco Piro family from theManú National Park, while on an expedition along theMadre de Dios River in search ofpetroglyphs. However, this claim to the photograph was subsequently disputed byJean-Paul Van Belle, who claimed to have taken these pictures three weeks earlier.[20] His local guide Nicolas "Shaco" Flores, who was found dead six days later with a bamboo-tipped arrow stuck in his chest, is believed to have been killed by members of the Mashco Piro tribe.[13]
In August 2013, the BBC reported that a group of Mashco Piro people had been seen apparently asking neighboring villagers for food.[21] The Peruvian government has banned contact with the Mashco Piro for fear that they might be infected by strangers with diseases to which the Mashco Piro have not built up immunity.[21]
TheMashco Piro language is similar to theYine language, and members of nearby Yine communities are able to communicate with the Mashco Piro. Yine villages will often plant an extra garden near the edges of the forest, intended to be used by Mashco Piro.[22]
In July 2024, video and images of dozens of uncontacted Mashco Piro people, on the banks of a river a few kilometers from a series of logging concessions, were published by Survival International.[1][23] In September 2024, at least two loggers were killed by a group of uncontacted Mashco Piro.[24]
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