Metyktire people

The Metyktire is a native people who live on the Menkregnoti reservation in the Amazon basin. ^[1] They are estimated to have about 87 members. They were discovered in May 2007 when two tribesmen entered a Kayapo-tribe village in the Menkregnoti reservation. The Metyktire form part of the Kayapo people and speak an archaic version of the Kayapo language. ^[2]

When discovered, they had not had any known contact with Western civilization. This was attributed to their location on the 12,100,000-acre (49,000 km²) reservation, in an area difficult to access due to dense jungle and lack of nearby rivers. The Metyktire are a subgroup of the Kayapo tribe, but had little to no recent contact with them until two members visited a Kayapo village in May 2007.^[3] The Kayapo believe the Metyktire formed when several families fled deeper into the jungle in the 1950s.^[3]

Neither men nor women wear clothes. Men wear penis-protection. The women shave their heads.

References

1. ^ Reuters via the Irish Times, "'Unknown' tribe found in Amazon" 1 June 2007
2. ^ Associated Press via the San Francisco Chronicle, "Indian Tribe Found in Brazil's Amazon", June 1 2007
3. ^ ^{a b} "Uncontacted Indian tribe found in Brazil's Amazon". Associated Press. 2007-06-01. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/01/america/LA-GEN-Brazil-Indians.php.