Earth’s last remaining hunter-gatherers

Most of the earth’s population hasn’t been classed as hunter-gatherers for a very long time. In the British Isles, people had stopped living this way by the start of the iron age, which started around 800 BC and gave people the ability to create plows and tools strong enough to mass produce food.

Today only the most remote areas of the world still have genuine hunter-gatherer societies, and most of these are located in the tropical regions of the southern hemisphere and are sadly losing the land they need to sustain their lifestyles. Here are some of the most well-known regions and people who still live as they did thousands of years ago.

Innuit

The group of people known today as Innuits can trace their heritage back to a large group located in northwest Russian which they split from around 4,000 years ago. They made their way into modern-day Alaska over the frozen sea, which at the time was lower than it is today. They lived in Alaska up until the year 1000 AD as a group of people known as the Thule, who are recognized as being the ancestors of all modern-day North American Innuit.

They made their way to Greenland by the 13th century and have lived there ever since. They survive today the same way they always have but do occasionally trade for goods they can’t produce themselves. They herd caribou which provides most of their clothing material, and have the ability to fish all year round in waters rarely visited by commercial ships. Larger animals like whales and seals provide huge amounts of blubber to use as lamp oil, and having the ability to freeze meat provides a long-term preservation method.

Amazonian tribes

There are around 400 tribes living in the Amazon rainforest, with around 100 of those never having contact with the outside world. They come from many people from the various surrounding countries, making it impossible to determine their heritage or how long they’ve been there. Since their level of technology is so basic, it’s safe to assume they have been living the same way ever since people first arrived in South America.

Because all of the tribes are protected, it’s not possible to get any accurate numbers on how many there are, but those that have been contacted all seem to have their own languages and religions. Unfortunately, their way of life is being threatened and huge amounts of the forest are being stripped away by logging companies.

Aeta people

This term is given to various groups of indigenous people who live in remote areas of the Philippines and its surrounding islands. They are formed into various tribes that don’t associate with each other, but instead come from the same ancestors, who at some point spread out from their central location and developed independently.

(a photo of a Aeta girl taken in 1901)

They almost always stick to the coast and live mostly from seafood and fruit, along with any game they can hunt in the forest. The different tribes have their own customs, but most live a nomadic lifestyle, with only several families in each group. They have a very peaceful way of life and give the other groups space to have their own hunting grounds.

Hadza people

There are almost 1,500 Hadza people living in Tanzania, but only a few hundred still live the traditional lifestyle of hunting and foraging. Tourism has taken its toll and people are relying more on modern means to survive through trade and income from visitors than their traditional means.

Hunting is the most heavily relied-on form of food production, with hunts sometimes lasting for several days or involving running for hours. Because life here can be so hard, it’s easy to understand why people are moving to modern means of survival, but there are those who out of choice, still live the same way they have since they first arrived there.

Sentinelese

Probably the most famous uncontacted tribe in the world, and certainly the most hostile. This small island in the Indian Ocean is home to a tribe that has lived there for as long as records have been kept. Little is known about them due to their hostile nature, but due to what people have seen it appears they don’t even have fire yet.

(a picture taken from a helicopter the Sentinelese tried to attack as it flew over)

They make stone spears and arrows which they use to attack anyone who comes close enough, which usually only happens by accident. Every now and then someone will go to the island to spread the word of their religion, only to be instantly met with aggression. Several people have died there, and anyone unlucky enough to wash up on the shores of sentinel island will never leave again.