RIO DE JANEIRO – The unified tribal landscapes dedicated to Riley Francisco to save his career are rare and fraught with danger.
So in June, when a handful of absurd natives came out of the jungles of the state of Rondનીnia and approached a small village, Mr. Franciscoto, a Brazilian government expert on non-native species, turned to work.
His insolent efforts over the past few months to protect the different tribes of Rondenia, and to find out why they have begun to emerge from the Amazon rainforest, on Wednesday when Mr Francisco was shot and killed in the chest with an arrow.
Allies and police investigators believe Mr. Francisco, a member of the unruly tribe who was shot at, is mistakenly treating him as a threat.
Mr. Franciscotto’s friend, Moises Aesop Campe, 35, who accompanied him that day, said he was treading the footsteps of the tribesmen in the rainforest, recently spotted by villagers in a rural area near the town of Sirius.
“We were looking for information about where they came from and trying to see if they had anything left behind,” Mr Kampe said.
Suddenly, Mr. Franciscotto blinked. Mr. Kamp saw his friend with a horrible look as he pierced the top of a five-bamboo arrow pierced his chest.
“He pulled it out and started running,” Mr. Kampe said. “He ran about 50 meters, passed and fell to the ground.”
There are dozens of indigenous species in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest that have chosen to live in isolation. Since the 1980s, the Brazilian government has sought to prevent outsiders, including missionaries, from coming into contact with the race.
Such experiences in the past have been devastating for indigenous peoples who lack immunity to common pathogens.
It is the responsibility of the National Indian Foundation to uphold the policy of non-contact, or the federal agency where Mr. Francisco has worked for more than three decades, the FANIAI.
Its goal has become more difficult in recent years as loggers and miners have invaded indigenous territories in violation of federal law, usually with no result. President Jair Bolsonaro, who has backed the opening of the Amazon for further development, has described the indigenous territories as an obstacle to archeological and economic development. He compared the communities living in the forest with the animals in the zoo.
As Funae’s budget was slashed, many of its remote area office fees closed and his rank dwindled in recent years, Mr. Francisco remained steadfast in his conviction that the last few men deserved protection.
“He was an excellent person,” Mr. Kampe said. “Everything he did was motivated by a desire to protect different communities and uphold their right to a dignified life.”
Evanide Cardozo, an indigenous rights activist in Rondenia, said she and Mr Francisco had always talked about the dangers of treating both as laborers of love. Mr. Franciscato, he said, feared that he could be killed by L. Gers, who is often armed, or by a tribe, if he made a mistake by an invader.
In June, when Mr. Franciscato heard that a handful of lonely tribesmen had approached a pastoralist, he planned to keep them safe. The chances of one of those people getting infected with coronavirus and spreading it to relatives was a very bad condition. Mr Francisco therefore urged the villagers in the area to avoid close contact with the tribes at any cost.
“I will do everything in my power to protect those indigenous people and I will not allow them to be contacted,” Ms Cardozo told them.
But he saw it as a difficult task, he said, as Mr. Francisco became a solo operation to effectively trucking several species over a wide area. “The problem is I’m alone, I don’t have a team and I need people.” Ms. Cardozo said he told her recently.
Ms. Cardozo said Mr. Francisco was bored because he studied the tribes from afar. The task should come close enough to collect the key to how these communities are loved by studying the movement of these communities, their diet and the devices they leave behind.
“He noted every single thing,” Ms. Cardozo said. “Even the weather.”
Marcelo Xavier, president of the FunAIA, called him an “exemplary” public servant. “He has dedicated more than 300 years to protecting indigenous peoples,” Mr Xavier said in a video message.
When the group came out of the forest in June, villagers said the tribesmen left a slab of meat and took a chicken from a ranch. It was interpreted as a pleasant exchange.
When Mr. Francisco came to the attention of the tribesmen a few days later, he signaled to them that they should return to the forest. Cardozo said. He believed it was the safest route until a highly contagious epidemic spread to Brazil.
The fear is that they were forced to flee back to the plains this week after hearing five naked tribesmen walk out of the forest in a V-shaped formation in another area of India for two weeks.
The man came with a bow and arrow while 18-year-old Dhulia Perera was collecting wood near her house.
“My father started screaming,” he said. “We didn’t know what their reaction would be.”
A few hours later, Mr. Francisco arrived and interviewed all the villagers about what they saw. He then went to the woods to find fresh footprints.
A few minutes later, Ms. Pereira saw Mr. Francisco’s body on a wheelbarrow, as friends drove him to a police vehicle, which took him to the hospital.
“She looked unconscious,” he said. “I saw no signs of life.”
