A clan of previously isolated Amazon Indians began appearing on the banks of a jungle river popular with environmental tourists last year. Peruvian authorities say they are struggling to keep outsiders away from the Mashco-Piro Indians. Clan members have been blamed for two bow-and-arrow attacks on people near the riverbank in Madre de Dios state. The tribe is believed to number in the hundreds and lives in the Manu National Park that borders Diamante, a community of more than 200 people. The clan that showed up at the river is believed to number about 60, including some 25 adults. The place where they were seen is one of heavy transit of river cargo and tourist passage, and so the potential for more violent encounters remains high. The Mashco-Piro live by their own social code, which includes the practice of kidnapping other tribes' women and children.
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