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The Headbashers!

Hidden in the remote reaches of the Amazon rain forest in Brazil are tribal people who have never been contacted by civilization. The following is a true account that tells of contact with such a people. No one knows their real name. No one from the outside speaks their language.

Daniel, a Maioruna Indian, had been invited to go on the trip. Excitement was in the air. Rumors about the Corubo "headbashers" had been around for years.

Some Indians on hunting trips had actually met the wild, naked men, but few people lived to tell of such encounters for the headbashers were very dangerous. They appear friendly and amicable. But once you have your guard down, they will suddenly sneak up behind their victim and bash his head in with their crude clubs.

A Brazilian government worker had made a brief contact with the tribe, but being wary of them, he and his party did not stay long in the area. However, curiosity was aroused and in March 1997 an expedition was put together to meet the Corubo.

For four months they all lived on a large boat on the Rio Itui, until finally a group went up the little river Quixito, off the Itui, and found three villages of the wild people. The naked, jabbering people seemed friendly. Surely, this time, nothing was going to happen.

Daniel recollects it seemed there was a real party spirit. But still an aura of fear hung close...these people were too unpredictable.

Then it happened!

Leaving the area, going downstream by boat, they came to a clearing where a wild man lay moaning as if he was sick. A party of four crossed the river to help him. Daniel also crossed. There were seven Corubo men standing near the sick man. A photographer named Sobral crossed to take pictures.

Suddenly a Corubo walked behind Sobral and bashed his head with a club. Daniel panicked, as did everyone else. His first thoughts were, "I'm going to die too!" He ran for the river as fast as he could. A Corubo man was pursuing him. The man threw his club at Daniel! Daniel slipped...crashing down the embankment into the water.

BANG!! Someone on the boat had fired a shotgun in the air. That probably saved their lives as the Corubo turned at the loud noise and fled back into the forest. Once all had quieted down, they retrieved Sobral's body, but his head was so badly crushed that he died in a few hours.

Not one missionary was in that group. The Brazilian Indian Affairs consider evangelical missions dangerous to the culture of Indians. Yet probably no one is more qualified to really care about the "headbashers." Pray for those who might enter the Quixito River to introduce these headbashers to the Prince of Peace.

By Duane Howe, a missionary with New Tribes Mission in Brazil

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