Blaming Indigenous Victims

Disturbing quote from the Times about the recently "discovered" Nukak people.

The Nukak, an Amazonian people who have successfully avoided colonisation until the last half-decade, are now in dire straits. After just a few years of contact with outsiders, only a fraction of their number remain.

Click here to learn more about their plight.

Even these native people are attacked by the western press, and are already subjected to the same stereotyping and marginalisation as indigenous peoples the world over. Check out this victim-blaming quote from the Times:

"Now in their fourth year in the area, the Nukak in Barrancón lead listless lives, lolling in their hammocks awaiting food from the state. They do not work, nor have they learned Spanish. They also have no plans to return to the forest. "I think we will be here always," said Martín, a young man who is considered a leader."