Tribes on the Edge

Year of release: 2021. Directed by Céline Cousteau.

Celine Cousteau and the Cause Centric crew recording an interview with a Marubo cheif in the village of Boa Vista in the Vale do Javari, Brazil.

One of the most harrowing scenes in Tribes on the Edge is when translator and anthropologist Barbara Arisi is bitten by a venomous snake. She cannot be flown out of the Vale do Javari in Brazil and to the closest hospital by helicopter because she is on indigenous land but not an indigenous tribe member. That is just one example of the type of bureaucracy which the Amazonian Indians are at the mercy of.

Céline Cousteau (granddaughter of Jacques) captures the plight of the indigenous peoples living in the Vale do Javari, one of the largest territories of indigenous land on the western edge of Brazil. Malaria and hepatitis are decimating the tribes, and the government agencies are too far removed (both distance-wise and interest-wise) to be of much help. Making matters worse, Brazil’s new president has threatened to eliminate the indigenous people’s territories.

This documentary functions as the tribes’ cry for help, and it is one Céline felt she could not ignore. She begins the documentary by saying when she is home in America, she can only think about the indigenous Amazonians. Solidarity with all peoples is a virtue that has been too often forgotten in recent years, and the film beautifully showcases the importance of that for all of humanity’s survival.

The tribes preserve the portion of the Amazon rainforest in which they live, and the rainforest is a major source of the world’s oxygen and fresh water. With industrialization of the rain forest, that reduces two sources of life for not only the Amazonian tribes but the entire world as well.

The beauty and danger of the Amazon rain forest are stunningly captured by director of photography Matthew Ferraro. At the same time, he captures the intimacy and beauty of the lives of the tribe members. The generosity of the Marúbo tribe in welcoming the filmmaking team and caring for them is extraordinary, especially with their limited resources.

Barbara’s leg and life are saved through the limited antivenom supply that the tribe’s doctor uses for her. It is another example of the limited resources and medicine that the tribe has, and how much they could benefit from more aid from the outside world, especially given the white diseases that are currently plaguing them. At the same time, there is an understandable distrust of the government, especially given Brazil’s law that the government can seize indigenous lands provided there are no indigenous peoples living on them. Céline says laws like that have led to a belief among some tribe members that the government has introduced the diseases to eliminate the tribes’ population. It’s a problem that could be solved if the government agencies passed new laws in the interest of the Amazonian Indians and not their own.

The tribes living in the Vale do Javari not only live on the edge of Brazil and the Amazon, but they are on the edge of their existence as well. Tribes on the Edge puts forward the idea that from this corner of the world they are guardians of the rainforest, its resources, and consequently all of our lives as well. It is this advocacy which the tribes hope and the filmmakers hope will move the hearts not only of the Brazilian government but the rest of the world as well.

Tribes on the Edge premieres on VOD beginning February 2nd.  For more information visit https://tribesontheedge.com/