The American conservationist and author who captured extraordinary footage of an uncontacted Amazon tribe recalled the horrifying moment his guide was shot through the chest with a 7-foot arrow by the suspicious tribesmen.
Paul Rosolie, who has spent two decades working in the Amazon, detailed the encounter on Lex Fridman’s podcast as he aired the never-before-seen, high-definition footage showing the isolated indigenous people during a friendly interaction the day before.
The incredible clip shows the tribesmen, armed with bows and arrows, emerging onto a beach through a cloud of butterflies, staring and pointing warily at the strangers filming them, before ultimately laying down their weapons.
Paul Rosolie discovered an uncontacted tribe in the Amazon and recalled the horrifying moment his guide was shot through the chest with a 7-foot arrow. Lex Clips/YouTube
The next day, however, Rosolie described how they were suddenly surrounded by 200 members who shot arrows at them, forcing them to hit the deck.
Their guide, George, was driving the boat and trying to speed away as fast as possible when “one arrow came in just above his scapula and came out by his belly button,” Rosolie told Fridman.
“I saw the boat afterward and there was just, you know, horrific amounts of blood all over the boat and he had to be medevaced out and somehow he lived,” he said.
The previous day, the naturalist and explorer said, he was scared when he first met the tribe’s “warriors,” but they later relax after they give them plantains — and even sing to him, the video shows.
“I’m looking in every direction ‘cuz I’m going, ‘Which way is the arrow coming from?’” Rosolie said, noting that one of the men was armed with a “farm shotgun” that requires a stick to kick off the shell.
But they suddenly begin to lay their weapons down to show they mean him no harm.
The Amazon tribesmen, who later attacked, stand on a beach staring and pointing warily at the strangers filming them. Mohsin Kazmi and Stephane Thomas via Storyful
“These are warriors … it really looked like they’re ready for violence. And now they’re all standing in a relaxed … and smiling,” Rosolie told Fridman as the clip plays.
Rosolie and members of his group offered the tribe boatloads of plantains, which they rushed into the river to grab, showing how hungry they were, he said, and gave them other gifts — including their own clothes.
As tensions eased, the tribe’s curiosity spiked and “there was this very human moment of just sort of joking” and dancing back and forth, Rosolie said.
The most jaw-dropping experience happened just before they left when the tribe, impressed at Rosolie’s warrior-like height, asked him to come forward.
He stands before the tribe on the other bank of the river and they start to sing to him, holding up their hands, the video shows. Rosolie returns the gesture.
The tribe then disappears into the jungle with their loot.
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But despite seemingly forging a good relationship, the tribe turned violent on their return.
“We gave them bananas and we in every way possible said, ‘We mean peace,’” Rosolie recalled.
“And then the next day, they attacked,” he continued.
“I don’t know what to make of it. And the only thing I can think is that the way they hid the women from us — you don’t know,” he added.