Aaron Vincent Elkaim

Documentary photographer highlighting humanity, nature, and sacredness in an industrialized world.

aaronvincentelkaim.com

The Mashco Prio

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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Nationality: Canadian

Biography: Aaron Vincent Elkaim (b.1981) is a Canadian documentary photographer currently based in Toronto Canada. Aaronâ€™s work explores narratives where culture, history, the environment and development collide. Since 2011 he has committed himself to... MORE

Members of the isolated Mashco-...act on the Madre De Dios River.

1 of 12 © 2024 Aaron Vincent Elkaim

Members of the isolated Mashco-Piro tribe wait on the beach for the Peruvian protection agents from the Namole outpost to make contact on the Madre De Dios River.

Signs warning tourists and loca...visitors of Manu National Park.

2 of 12 © 2024 Aaron Vincent Elkaim

Signs warning tourists and locals about the Mashco-Piro tribe are seen in the town of Atalaya, one of the launching points on the Madre De Dios River for visitors of Manu National Park.

The Machiguenga indigenous comm... on the village in May of 2015.

3 of 12 © 2024 Aaron Vincent Elkaim

The Machiguenga indigenous community of Shipetiari. This village has been visited numerous times by the Mashco-Piro who reside on the same side of the Madre de Dios River. One of their members Leo Perez was killed by a bow and arrow during a raid on the village in May of 2015.

A boy from the Yine town of Dia...s they speak a similar language

4 of 12 © 2024 Aaron Vincent Elkaim

A boy from the Yine town of Diamante swims on the Madre de Dios river. Diamante is an indigenous community that has frequently interacted with the Mashco-Piro as they speak a similar language

Nena Trigoso-Perez from the tow...nce of raids by the Macho Piro.

5 of 12 © 2024 Aaron Vincent Elkaim

Nena Trigoso-Perez from the town of Diamante, a indigenous Yine community that has frequently interacted with the Mashco-Piro and speak a similar language, walks through a corn and yucca field showing evidence of raids by the Macho Piro.

Luis Felipe Torres, the head of...interacted with the Macho Prio.

6 of 12 © 2024 Aaron Vincent Elkaim

Luis Felipe Torres, the head of the state's isolated tribes team, prepares for a meeting in Diamante, a indigenous Yine community that has frequently interacted with the Macho Prio.

Evangelical preacher Mario Alva... word of god to the Macho Piro.

7 of 12 © 2024 Aaron Vincent Elkaim

Evangelical preacher Mario Alvarez who moved to the Yine community of Diamante, believes god spoke to him in a dream telling him it was his duty to come and bring the word of god to the Macho Piro.

Felipe Araoz, a worker for the ...ide of the Madre de Dios River.

8 of 12 © 2024 Aaron Vincent Elkaim

Felipe Araoz, a worker for the ministry of culture and member of the Machiguenga indigenous community of Shipetiari stands in the spot where a Mashco-Piro fired an arrow killing tribal member Leo Perez during a raid on the village in May. This village has been visited numerous times by the Mashco-Piro who reside on the same side of the Madre de Dios River.

Waldo Maldonado, who works for ...the municipality of Fitzcarald.

9 of 12 © 2024 Aaron Vincent Elkaim

Waldo Maldonado, who works for the state's isolated tribes team, is seen in the town of Boca Manu, the capital of the municipality of Fitzcarald.

A photograph of the grandchildr...own on the Madre de Dios River.

10 of 12 © 2024 Aaron Vincent Elkaim

A photograph of the grandchildren of Alberto Flores, a Mashco-Piro indigenous who was kidnapped by Machiguenga hunters as a child, hangs on the wall of his home in Diamante, an indigenous Yine town on the Madre de Dios River.

Nelly Florez, 38, who works as ...sed in the village of Diamante.

11 of 12 © 2024 Aaron Vincent Elkaim

Nelly Florez, 38, who works as a protection agent, overlooks the beach on the Madre De Dios River where the Mashco-Piro come out to meet the government workers from the Namole outpost. She is the daughter of a Macho Piro man, Alberto Flores, who was kidnapped as a child and raised in the village of Diamante.

A community meeting led by Luis...g a raid on the village in May.

12 of 12 © 2024 Aaron Vincent Elkaim

A community meeting led by Luis Felipe Torres, the head of the state's isolated tribes team, in the Machiguenga indigenous community of Shipetiari. This village has been visited numerous times by the Macho Piro who reside on the same side of the Madre de Dios River. One of their members Leo Perez was killed by a bow and arrow during a raid on the village in May.

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Private Story

The Mashco Prio

Copyright Aaron Vincent Elkaim 2024

Updated Mar 2017

Topics Documentary, Editorial, Environment, Fine Art, Forest, Genocide, Human Rights, Isolation, Latin America, Photography, Photojournalism

The Mashco Piro are an isolated indigenous tribe in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon along the Madre De Dios River and Manu National Park. Recently they have come out of hiding, waving down tourist boats, and raiding nearby villages which has resulted in deaths. The government of Peru has a policy to leave isolated Indians alone, but they have been forced to scramble a controlled contact in hopes of saving lives from violence and disease. The future for these people is unknown, as they cautiously reach for the modern world from the banks of a river. This story was commissioned by The New Yorker magazine.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/08/08/an-isolated-tribe-emerges-from-the-rain-forest

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