December 20Louise McGrath, a friend of Sydney Possuelo, faxed Contact! producer Valerie May with
disturbing news from the Amazon. The expedition
has been receiving death threats, especially in the last few weeks.
A local judge, moreover, has ruled that anyoneincluding loggerswho earns
a living from the Vale do Javari must be allowed into the indigenous region.

November 26Sydney Possuelo will return to
the expedition site the last week of Novemberseveral months
ahead of scheduleaccording to an
update interview with National Geographic Online.
Hell begin Stage Two of the expedition, briefing
the Korubo on the dangers they face as they meet their neighbors.
Curiosity and confidence boosted by contact, the Indians have twice
emerged from the jungle to visit the crew aboard the Waika,
anchored at the expedition site.

November 15Read about the
expeditions second
contact with the Korubosee dispatches from October
21-29. Stay tuned for further updates.

November 8Check out Nicolas
Reynards exclusive account
and photographs of contact with the Korubosee dispatches
from October 9-20.

October 29
Enter the scene of first contact today via producer
Valerie Mays exclusive
interview with expedition leader Sydney Possuelo.
Hear a live excerpt from their phone conversation,
made possible by satellite communication and an interpreter.
See history-making photographs by Nicolas Reynard.

October 23
An expedition led by Sydney Possuelo
(a director in FUNAI,
the Brazilian Indian agency) has made peaceful contact with a
group of 21 Korubo Indiansa hostile and isolated tribe deep in
Brazils Amazonia. The expedition entered the jungle October
9, and followed a trail about ten miles (16 kilometers) into the
rain forest. Camp was established within
a half mile (700 meters) of two Korubo malocas [huts]. The contact
expeditiona group of 13 including representatives from three
local tribesset out gifts of grain, pots, and machetes in the
surrounding area.
On October 15 the Korubo finally approached the expedition.
We heard their voices calling to us from the surrounding jungle,
but they wouldnt show themselves, said Online photographer
Nicolas Reynard.
Possuelo ordered the expedition to split into two groups and
explore the surrounding area. When they returned to the campsite
four Korubo, one woman and three warriors, awaited them. The
situation was untrustworthy...not scary but skittish, said FUNAI
spokesman Marinho dos Santos. But within hours a more relaxed
communication was established and the rest of the tribe,
including children, entered the camp. The groups spent the next
three days visiting, eating together...there was dancing and
joking...they talked and showed and explained things to each
other, said dos Santos.
This landmark contact follows decades of hostility between the
Korubo and local settlers, loggers, and fishermen. Stay tuned for
the full story and exclusive photographs.
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