Amazon Warriors Fight for Their Trees

Reuters photographer Lunae Parracho recently went
on a search and destroy mission in the Amazon with Brazil's Ka'apor
Indians. Frustrated by the government's lack of action to keep illegal
loggers out of the Alto Turiacu Indian territory, local warriors from
several tribes have taken it upon themselves to find logging camps,
destroy equipment, and drive out the unwelcome intruders. Parracho
documented the scene as Ka'apor warriors captured a number of men in the
forest, burned their trucks, destroyed their logs, then sent their
captives down the road—freed, but without shoes or pants, their hands
still bound. The Ka'apor Indians and four other tribes—the legal
inhabitants and caretakers of the territory—have also set up monitoring
camps in areas that are being illegally exploited. [20 photos]

A Ka'apor Indian warrior chases a logger who tried to escape after he
was captured during a jungle expedition to find and expel loggers from
the Alto Turiacu Indian territory, near the Centro do Guilherme
municipality in the northeast of Brazil's Maranhao state in the Amazon
basin, on August 7, 2014. Tired of what they say is a lack of sufficient
government assistance in keeping loggers off their land, the Ka'apor
Indians, who along with four other tribes are the legal inhabitants and
caretakers of the territory, have sent their warriors out to expel all
loggers they find and set up monitoring camps in the areas that are
being illegally exploited. (Reuters/Lunae Parracho)

2

A truck carries logs along a dirt road leading out of the Alto Turiacu
Indian territory, as seen from inside a vehicle belonging to the Ka'apor
Indian tribe on August 2, 2014. (Reuters/Lunae Parracho) #

3

Ka'apor Indian warriors gesture to members of their tribe as they
depart on a jungle expedition to search for and expel loggers from the
Alto Turiacu Indian territory, in the village of Waxiguy Renda near the
Centro do Guilherme municipality in the Amazon basin, on August 7, 2014.
(Reuters/Lunae Parracho) #

4

Ka'apor Indians hand bows and arrows to tribal warriors traveling by
truck through their village of Ximborenda, on the way to search for and
expel loggers in the northeast of Maranhao state on August 6, 2014. (Reuters/Lunae Parracho) #

5

A Ka'apor Indian watches as a group of warriors depart on a jungle
expedition to search for and expel loggers from the Alto Turiacu Indian
territory on August 7, 2014. (Reuters/Lunae Parracho) #

6

Armed Ka'apor Indian warriors hike during their expedition to expel loggers on August 7, 2014. (Reuters/Lunae Parracho) #

7

Armed Ka'apor Indian warriors hike during their expedition to expel loggers on August 7, 2014. (Reuters/Lunae Parracho) #

8

Ka'apor Indian warriors stand over a logger they captured and tied up
inside the Alto Turiacu Indian territory on August 7, 2014. (Reuters/Lunae Parracho) #

9

Warriors tie up loggers they discovered in the northeast of Maranhao state on August 7, 2014. (Reuters/Lunae Parracho) #

10

Ka'apor Indian warriors use sticks to beat captured loggers in the Alto Turiacu Indian territory on August 7, 2014. (Reuters/Lunae Parracho) #

11

Ka'apor Indian warriors bind captured loggers on August 7, 2014. (Reuters/Lunae Parracho) #

12

A warrior gets ready to set fire to a logging truck they discovered in the Alto Turiacu Indian territory on August 7, 2014. (Reuters/Lunae Parracho) #

13

A Ka'apor Indian warrior stands near a burning logging truck during a
jungle expedition to search for and expel loggers on August 7, 2014. (Reuters/Lunae Parracho) #

14

Warriors tie up and remove the pants and shoes of captured loggers on August 7, 2014. (Reuters/Lunae Parracho) #

15

Ka'apor Indian warriors release a logger (striped shirt) after capturing him during their expedition on August 7, 2014. (Reuters/Lunae Parracho) #

16

A warrior uses a chainsaw to ruin one of the logs they discovered on August 7, 2014. (Reuters/Lunae Parracho) #

17

A Ka'apor Indian warrior pours gasoline on a logging truck before setting fire to it on August 7, 2014. (Reuters/Lunae Parracho) #

18

A logging truck burns after it was discovered and set on fire by Ka'apor Indian warriors on August 7, 2014. (Reuters/Lunae Parracho) #

19

Ka'apor Indian warriors tie up and remove the pants of a logger on August 7, 2014. (Reuters/Lunae Parracho) #

20

Loggers, relieved of their pants and shoes, run off after being released by Ka'apor Indian warriors on August 7, 2014. (Reuters/Lunae Parracho) #

via In Focus - The Atlantic