American explorer releases video about tribe that has never had contact with the world

On January 14, Lex Fridman, American explorer Paul Rosolie, published on the podcast channel high-definition footage of a tribe that has never had contact with the modern world.

According to Paul, most videos about tribes around the world are blurry because they were filmed remotely with old equipment. Paul’s videos are shot using an 800mm lens with a 2x focal converter, allowing for detailed capture of anything from a distance.

In the video, the tribe appears on the riverbank. They move cautiously, cooperatively, observing strangers while trying to read every detail and assess potential threats.

Paul said they used body language to assemble a squad with weapons. Initially, the atmosphere was somewhat tense, with the risk of violence occurring.

“I looked in every direction and wondered where the arrow would come from,” Paul said. However, things changed as the tribesmen got closer. They lowered their weapons, a sign of understanding there was no threat. Tension quickly dissipated into curiosity, some tribe members even showed interest.

Researchers estimate that globally there are still nearly 200 tribal groups that have never had contact with the world, most of them in the Amazon forests of Brazil and Peru.

Direct contact can lead to catastrophic consequences, information about these communities comes mainly from satellite images, aerial surveillance and reports from neighboring indigenous groups.

In 2018, 26-year-old American missionary John Allen Chau was killed while trying to contact the Sentinelese people on North Sentinel Island – one of the most isolated indigenous communities in the world.

Although India banned access to the island, Chau paid fishermen to take him ashore. He tried to introduce himself and preach, leaving gifts and recording the meeting in his diary. However, the Sentinelese killed Chau soon after he set foot on the island. His body was never found.

History shows that even short contacts can expose tribal communities to diseases that are “harmless in developed countries” but kill them due to lack of sufficient immunity. Biologists fear that accidentally introducing a virus into a tribe could cause rapid, sometimes total, population loss.

Discoveries of hidden tribes have increased in recent times as industrial activity is moving deeper into the forests. Illegal logging, mining and drug smuggling routes have shrunk the buffer zone that once kept these groups isolated.

In response, a number of tribes also appeared along the river banks or near settlements, often organizing defenses against territorial encroachments. One of the clearest examples is the Mashco Piro people of southeastern Peru – an ethnic group who were photographed several times between 2023 and 2025, near logging areas.