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Isolated, indigenous tribe in Amazon is captured on drone video

This 2017 photo released by the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) shows a "maloca," or long house, in Vale do Javari, Amazonas state, Brazil. Overall, the agency has registered 107 isolated tribes in Latin America's largest nation. (FUNAI via AP)

Video of an uncontacted, indigenous tribe in an isolated part of the Amazon was released this week.

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Drone video released Tuesday by the National Indian Foundation, or FUNAI, captured a group of people walking through a clearing near Brazil's border with Peru. The video was recorded during an expedition last year, but only recently released, to protect the study.

"The more we know about isolated communities' way of living, the more equipped we are to protect them," Bruno Pereira, a coordinator for FUNAI's study of isolated groups, told Metro.

Researchers discovered the tribe in Vale do Javari, near the Brazil-Peru border. There are six contacted tribes in the area, two of which only recently met with people from the outside world, and 11 others that have remained isolated.

Researchers found canoes made from palm trees, indigenous tools and a thatched hut.

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This 2017 photo released by the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) shows canoes on the bank of a river in Vale do Javari, Amazonas state, Brazil. An agency official told The Associated Press that they had monitored this tribe in the jungle for years but had never caught it on camera. The pen was placed on one of the boats by FUNAI to show the size. (FUNAI via AP)

It was the third study of the year and covered more than 180 miles of mostly rugged terrain that the researchers traveled on foot.

The expeditions are part of efforts to study and protect indigenous tribes.