Second Christian Missionary Enters Isolated Indigenous Tribal Lands

A Christian missionary from Maine could be tried for genocide by Brazil after entering land occupied by an isolated tribe. American missionary Steve Campbell, from Maine has been accused of exposing an isolated indigenous tribe, the Hi-Merimã in Brazil to diseases which could be fatal. He allegedly entered the lands occupied by the Hi-Merimã tribe last month.

Campbell has been living among the neighboring Jamamadi tribe for years but received no authorization to do so from Brazil.

Campbell claimed to have entered the area by mistake, while teaching Jamamadi natives how to use a GPS device. Campbell and wife Robin are missionaries with Greene Baptist Church in Maine.

Steve Campbell is being investigated by officials from FUNAI, the Brazilian government’s Indigenous Affairs Department, amid reports that he could be tried for genocide.

The latest case comes two months after American missionary John Allen Chau, 27, was killed by a tribe on North Sentinel Island where native people have lived for 30,000 years. Chau was shot by a bow and arrow, according to police, and local fisherman saw his body being dragged around.

The Andaman and Nicobar Police Department later arrested seven people including five fishermen and two of Chau’s friends, alleging that they helped him get to the island despite it being illegal for anyone to go there.

The Hi-Merimã is one of a few dozen isolated communities in Brazil that have had almost no contact with the outside world. Natives there have previously rejected attempts at contact. It is unclear what penalties Campbell may face, with federal prosecutors or police officials yet to be notified of his actions.

However, Survival International, an organization advocating for tribal peoples’ rights, has reported that Campbell could even be tried for ‘genocide’.

According to Survival International, contact has resulted in disaster for Brazil’s uncontacted tribes ‘time and time again.’

Little is known about the Hi-Merimã, who live in the state of Amazonas. They are known for rejecting contact with the outside world and maintaining hostile relations even with other indigenous communities.

The tribe lives along Piranhas River, between the Juruá and Purus Rivers, in the state of Amazonas. Their numbers are unclear, but in the forties, it was estimated to consist of 1,000 people.

Responding to reports of Campbell’s arrest, Stephen Corry, the director of Survival International, said: “Fundamentalist Christian Americans must be stopped from this primitive urge to contact previously uncontacted tribes. It may lead to the martyrdom they seek, but always ends up killing tribespeople,” he said.

Under new far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, the threat to indigenous land is only expected to grow. Brazil’s new leader has to open up protected land for economic exploitation and refusing to dedicate even ‘one centimeter’ to indigenous groups or quilombolas, the descendants of runaway slaves.

Environmental groups and other stakeholders claim many indigenous tribes in the Brazilian Amazon have already seen their homes destroyed by colonialism, logging and mining operations and foreign diseases.