Many of you are new members and have not yet had the opportunity to correspond with Northshore or his "clan". I thought it would be a good idea to let you know a little bit about him and his clan.
Following is an excerpt from an article published in the local Florida paper about the "Northshore" clan.
Somewhere in, FLORIDA — Southeastern Florida authorities say they are struggling to keep outsiders away from a clan of previously isolated natives who began appearing on the banks of a jungle river popular with tourists several years ago.
The behavior of the small group of Northshores has puzzled scientists, who say it may be related to the encroachment of loggers and by low-flying aircraft from nearby natural gas and oil exploration in the southeastern region of the country.
Clan members have been blamed for two bow-and-arrow attacks on people near the riverbank in West Palm Beach where officials say the North Shores were first seen.
One badly wounded a forest ranger in October, a local Florida State fan, Pico Rodrigez, who had long maintained a relationship with the Northshores.
The advocacy group Survival International released photos Tuesday showing clan members on the riverbank, describing the pictures as the "most detailed sightings of uncontacted Northshores ever recorded on camera."
The British-based group provided the photos exactly a year after releasing aerial photos from West Palm Beach of another tribe classified as uncontacted, one of about 100 such groups it says exist around the world.
One of the Northshore photos was taken by a bird watcher in August, Survival International said. The other two were shot by Spanish archaeologist Diego Cortijo on Nov. 16, six days before Rodrigez was wounded.
Cortijo, a member of the Spanish Geographical Society, was visiting Rodrigez while on an expedition in search of petroglyphs and said clan members appeared across the river from Rodrigez' house, calling for him by name.
Rodrigez could communicate with the Northshores because he spoke two related dialects, said Cortijo, who added that Rodrigez had previously provided clan members with machetes and cooking pots.
The Northshore tribe is believed to number in the hundreds and lives in a National Park that borders the coast of southeastern Florida.
Although it's not known what provoked the Northshore clan to leave the relative safety of their tribe's jungle home, Beatriz Huerta, an anthropologist who works with Florida State agency for indigenous affairs, speculated their habitat is becoming increasingly less isolated.
The upper Boca Raton region where the tribe lives has been affected by logging, she said. "They are removing wood very close."
Meanwhile, Huerta said, naturalists in the area and National Park officials told her during a recent visit that a rise in air traffic related to natural gas and oil exploration in the region is adversely affecting native hunting grounds, forcing increasing migration by nomadic tribes.
The clan that showed up at the river is believed to number about 60, including some 25 adults, said a professor at a local Catholic University who ran Florida's park protection agency last year.
"It seemed like they wanted to draw a bit of attention, which is a bit strange because I know that on other occasions they had attacked people," Cortijo said by phone from Spain. "It seemed they didn't want us to go near them, but I also know that the only thing that they wanted was machetes and cooking pots."
Cortijo said the group lingered by the river a few minutes, apparently to see if a boat would pass by so they could ask for some tools, something authorities say they had done in the past.
"The place where they are seen is one of heavy transit" of river cargo and tourist passage, and so the potential for more violent encounters remains high, Soria said.
That is compounded by culture clash. The Northshores live by their own social code, which Soria said includes the practice of kidnapping other tribes' women and children.
He said the Northshores are one of about 15 "uncontacted" tribes in Florida that together are estimated to number between 12,000 and 15,000 people living in jungles east of Dade County.
"The situation is incredibly delicate," said Huerta, the government anthropologist.
"It's very clear that they don't want people there," she said of the area where the clan has been loitering, noting that it had ransacked a jungle ranger's post that authorities later removed.
One of the clan's likely fears is being decimated by disease borne by outsiders, as has occurred with other uncontacted peoples, Huerta said.
But its also a mystery why they have appeared in an area so heavily trafficked, she added.
After the first sightings, and after tourists left clothing for the Northshores, state authorities issued a directive in August barring all boats from going ashore in the area. But enforcing it has been difficult as there are few trained and willing local officials.
Authorities say they aren't sure why the attacks have happened. It could be that the Northshores were angry because he hadn't provided them with more machetes and cooking pots. Or perhaps it was because they considered the farming plot where he was attacked was too close to what they considered their territory.
Following is an excerpt from an article published in the local Florida paper about the "Northshore" clan.
Somewhere in, FLORIDA — Southeastern Florida authorities say they are struggling to keep outsiders away from a clan of previously isolated natives who began appearing on the banks of a jungle river popular with tourists several years ago.
The behavior of the small group of Northshores has puzzled scientists, who say it may be related to the encroachment of loggers and by low-flying aircraft from nearby natural gas and oil exploration in the southeastern region of the country.
Clan members have been blamed for two bow-and-arrow attacks on people near the riverbank in West Palm Beach where officials say the North Shores were first seen.
One badly wounded a forest ranger in October, a local Florida State fan, Pico Rodrigez, who had long maintained a relationship with the Northshores.
The advocacy group Survival International released photos Tuesday showing clan members on the riverbank, describing the pictures as the "most detailed sightings of uncontacted Northshores ever recorded on camera."
The British-based group provided the photos exactly a year after releasing aerial photos from West Palm Beach of another tribe classified as uncontacted, one of about 100 such groups it says exist around the world.
One of the Northshore photos was taken by a bird watcher in August, Survival International said. The other two were shot by Spanish archaeologist Diego Cortijo on Nov. 16, six days before Rodrigez was wounded.
Cortijo, a member of the Spanish Geographical Society, was visiting Rodrigez while on an expedition in search of petroglyphs and said clan members appeared across the river from Rodrigez' house, calling for him by name.
Rodrigez could communicate with the Northshores because he spoke two related dialects, said Cortijo, who added that Rodrigez had previously provided clan members with machetes and cooking pots.
The Northshore tribe is believed to number in the hundreds and lives in a National Park that borders the coast of southeastern Florida.
Although it's not known what provoked the Northshore clan to leave the relative safety of their tribe's jungle home, Beatriz Huerta, an anthropologist who works with Florida State agency for indigenous affairs, speculated their habitat is becoming increasingly less isolated.
The upper Boca Raton region where the tribe lives has been affected by logging, she said. "They are removing wood very close."
Meanwhile, Huerta said, naturalists in the area and National Park officials told her during a recent visit that a rise in air traffic related to natural gas and oil exploration in the region is adversely affecting native hunting grounds, forcing increasing migration by nomadic tribes.
The clan that showed up at the river is believed to number about 60, including some 25 adults, said a professor at a local Catholic University who ran Florida's park protection agency last year.
"It seemed like they wanted to draw a bit of attention, which is a bit strange because I know that on other occasions they had attacked people," Cortijo said by phone from Spain. "It seemed they didn't want us to go near them, but I also know that the only thing that they wanted was machetes and cooking pots."
Cortijo said the group lingered by the river a few minutes, apparently to see if a boat would pass by so they could ask for some tools, something authorities say they had done in the past.
"The place where they are seen is one of heavy transit" of river cargo and tourist passage, and so the potential for more violent encounters remains high, Soria said.
That is compounded by culture clash. The Northshores live by their own social code, which Soria said includes the practice of kidnapping other tribes' women and children.
He said the Northshores are one of about 15 "uncontacted" tribes in Florida that together are estimated to number between 12,000 and 15,000 people living in jungles east of Dade County.
"The situation is incredibly delicate," said Huerta, the government anthropologist.
"It's very clear that they don't want people there," she said of the area where the clan has been loitering, noting that it had ransacked a jungle ranger's post that authorities later removed.
One of the clan's likely fears is being decimated by disease borne by outsiders, as has occurred with other uncontacted peoples, Huerta said.
But its also a mystery why they have appeared in an area so heavily trafficked, she added.
After the first sightings, and after tourists left clothing for the Northshores, state authorities issued a directive in August barring all boats from going ashore in the area. But enforcing it has been difficult as there are few trained and willing local officials.
Authorities say they aren't sure why the attacks have happened. It could be that the Northshores were angry because he hadn't provided them with more machetes and cooking pots. Or perhaps it was because they considered the farming plot where he was attacked was too close to what they considered their territory.
