mazon Indian organizations have labeled calls by two US anthropologists to forcibly contact uncontacted tribes as “arrogant” and “irresponsible.”

Peru’s main Amazon Indian organization AIDESEP, as well several smaller Amazonian indigenous groups, released a statement in response to a recent editorial in Science magazine by US anthropologists Robert Walker and Kim Hill.

The anthropologists claim that uncontacted tribes are “unviable” and that governments are violating their responsibility to protect isolated tribes if they “refuse authorized, well-planned contacts.” Currently, international and Peruvian laws guarantee uncontacted tribes the right to reject contact with mainstream society.

In an open letter, the organizations wrote, “The way of life that we as indigenous peoples choose to live is a decision that we ourselves make, and one which the State and society has to respect. National and international laws grant us the right to maintain our cultures and make decisions over our present and future lives.