science · 08 December 1916 · 108 years ago
birth
Born 8 Dec 1916; died 1 Mar 1998 at age 81.
Brazilian anthropologist and activist whose life was dedicated to the search for and protection of the country's indigenous people as their lands were taken over and developed; he and his brother Orlando aided in the creation of the Xingu National Park reservation in 1961 and the National Indian Foundation six years later. He helped to build more than 30 airfields in the middle of the jungle and opened more than 1,000 miles of trails under the Amazon canopy. Together with his brothers, Cláudio contacted some of the most feared tribes like the Kalapalos, Kayabi, Kamaiurás, Meinacos, and Txucarramães. In 1973 they made contact for the first time with the Kreen-Akarore Indians (or Panarás, the giant Indians) in the north of the state of Mato Grosso.
OnThisDay.net