AN isolated Brazilian tribe hidden deep in the Amazon rainforest has vowed to "take up bows and arrows" against government forces threatening their territory with deforestation.

The Arara clan in the Para area of the forest warned "there could be deaths" if Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro refuses to stop hacking down trees for trade.

15 Warriors of the Arara tribe in the Amazon rainforest say they will fight illegal loggers with bows and arrows Credit: AFP or licensors

15 Tribe chief Tatji Arara rests a rifle on his shoulder after warning there 'could be deaths' if logging continues Credit: AFP or licensors

Bolsonaro, a far-right champion of tree felling and a climate change sceptic, has said he wouldn't give up "one centimetre more" of land to indigenous communities.

Since he came to power in January, illegal logging on Arara lands - which cover an area the size of 264,000 football pitches - has intensified, according to outraged natives.

Tribe chief Tatji Arara, 41, told reporters: "Every day, we find new trees cut down. I've never seen anything like this.

"Bolsonaro is poisoning the spirit of the people. Lots of people think he will take our land, but we won't let him.

"If the illegal extraction of wood continues, our warriors will take up their bows and arrows. There could be deaths."

TRIBAL TENSIONS

He added that indigenous people set fire to a truck used to illegally carry timber in February.

According to Para-based conservation group Imazon, deforestation in the Amazon increased by 54 per cent in January compared with a year earlier.

The Arara territory, home to around 300 indigenous people, has been under government protection since 1991.

In February, Arara leaders wrote to the authorities warning that tribal elders were considering evoking an ancestral ritual of making a traditional flute "with the skulls of the invaders".

Hundreds of representatives of indigenous groups left the forest to travel to the nation's capital Brasilia yesterday for a three-day lobbying mission to bolster their land rights.

Some 110,000 people live in the municipality of Altamira, which is larger than all of Portugal and includes Arara lands.

SIMPLE WAY OF LIFE

The Arara live in single-storey wooden houses, many of them painted blue, that form an arc around a well-used grass football pitch.

Roosters and hens roam freely around the homes.

Residents are fiercely attached to their traditional culture, with some decorating their faces and bodies with motifs inspired by local plants or animals using pigments from jenipapo fruit.

Everyone can speak their ancestral language, and many elders refuse to use Portuguese, the mother tongue of Brazil's colonisers.

For food Arara men hunt wild animals, including pigs and monkeys with bows and arrows and catch fish in the river for their wives to cook.

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Local prosecutors fear a bloodbath is looming.

Mr Paulo Henrique Cardoso, a prosecutor in Altamira, told reporters: "We are witnessing an escalation of tensions, and indigenous people are often forced to fulfil the role of federal law enforcement, who are far and few between.

"It's very disturbing to see the Indians playing the role of the police because they are often crushed in this kind of conflict."

15 A bird's-eye view of the Laranjal tribal camp in the Arara community Credit: AFP or licensors

15 A meeting at the Laranjal, in Para state, which is home to nearly 200 people in the northern Brazilian Amazon rainforest Credit: AFP or licensors

15 Locals set fire to a truck used for transporting timber amid illegal logging Credit: AFP or licensors

15 A little girl holds up a baby raccoon at the tribal camp Credit: AFP or licensors

15 Children pump water from a spout for a drink Credit: AFP or licensors

15 An Arara hunter holds a red macaw he killed while patrolling the Arara indigenous land Credit: AFP or licensors

15 Two local boys stroll smiling through the rainforest Credit: AFP or licensors

15 The community sits near the bank of an Amazon river tributary Credit: AFP or licensors

15 Homes made of wood and straw demonstrate their simple way of life Credit: AFP or licensors

15 Local men sit inside a property in the village Credit: AFP or licensors

15 Natives build walkways across marshy areas of the forest to help them navigate its tough terrain Credit: AFP or licensors

15 Arara kids play footie on the village's pitch in the centre Credit: AFP or licensors

15 The threats of violence from indigenous people came after logging increased following the election of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro Credit: Reuters

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