Before long, the 2,000-member community began witnessing an increase in issues typically reserved for western societies. Young people had become glued to their phones, gossip was being spread via social media, and many were developing addictions to pornography, the aggressive actions depicted in the content being experimented with in real life. Additionally, many elders in the tribe have feared that their largely oral traditions are at risk of being ignored by the next generation, and lost for good.
In an interview with the New York Times, elders explained that they had been optimistic when the technology first arrived, citing the fact that they were finally able to join video calls with relatives who had left the tribe and lived elsewhere and more easily contact the outside world during emergency situations.
"Now, things have gotten worse," one elder said. "Young people have gotten lazy because of the internet. They're learning the ways of the white people."
Despite the aforementioned challenges the community now faces, she maintained that Starlink was a net positive. "Please don't take our internet away," she said.
It all began in early 2023, when a Marubo leader named Enoque posted a short video online asking potential benefactors to help bring Starlink to his native village. Having spent a fair amount of time in the outside world, he felt it would help his people.
Before long, a wealthy woman from the United States named Allyson Reneau stepped in and announced that she had would provide money for the satellite system. She, along with a number of others, travelled down to Brazil and set up the devices, thus bringing the internet to the remote community for the first time.
The Marubo are not the first tribe in the country to receive Starlink services. Since 2022, dozens have been connected to the outside world via the technology.
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