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The Internet’s Final Frontier: Remote Amazon Tribes
被星鏈改變的亞馬孫部落：“通網”帶來的改變和代價As the speeches dragged on, eyes drifted to screens. Teenagers scrolled Instagram. One man texted his girlfriend. And men crowded around a phone streaming a soccer match while the group’s first female leader spoke.
隨著演講的進行，人們的目光轉向螢幕。年輕人刷著Instagram。一個男人在給女朋友發簡訊。當該組織的第一位女性領導人講話時，男人們圍著一部手機看足球比賽直播。
Just about anywhere, a scene like this would be mundane. But this was happening in a remote Indigenous village in one of the most isolated stretches of the planet.
在任何地方，這樣一幕都是很普通的。但這發生在一個偏遠的土著村莊，在地球上最與世隔絕的地區之一。
The Marubo people have long lived in communal huts scattered hundreds of miles along the Ituí River deep in the Amazon rainforest. They speak their own language, take ayahuasca to connect with forest spirits and trap spider monkeys to make soup or keep as pets.
馬魯博人長期居住在亞馬孫雨林深處，散佈在伊圖伊河沿岸數百公里的共有小屋中。他們說自己的語言，服用死藤水與森林精靈溝通，捕捉蜘蛛猴做湯或當做寵物。
They have preserved this way of life for hundreds of years through isolation — some villages can take a week to reach. But since September, the Marubo have had high-speed internet thanks to Elon Musk.
他們與世隔絕，幾百年來一直保持著這種生活方式——有些村莊需要一週的時間才能到達。但自去年9月以來，由於埃隆·馬斯克，馬魯博人擁有了高速網際網路。
The 2,000-member tribe is one of hundreds across Brazil that are suddenly logging on with Starlink, the satellite-internet service from Space X, Mr. Musk’s private space company. Since its entry into Brazil in 2022, Starlink has swept across the world’s largest rainforest, bringing the web to one of the last offline places on Earth.
這個2000人的部落是巴西各地數百個部落中的一個，他們突然開始使用馬斯克的私人太空公司SpaceX提供的衛星網際網路服務星鏈。自2022年進入巴西以來，星鏈已經席捲了世界上最大的雨林，將網路帶到地球上最後的離線地區之一。
The New York Times traveled deep into the Amazon to visit Marubo villages to understand what happens when a tiny, closed civilization suddenly opens to the world.
《紐約時報》深入亞馬孫，走訪了馬魯博村莊，試圖瞭解一個封閉的小文明突然向世界開放時會發生什麼。
“When it arrived, everyone was happy,” said Tsainama Marubo, 73, sitting on the dirt floor of her village’s maloca, a 50-foot-tall hut where the Marubo sleep, cook and eat together. The internet brought clear benefits, like video chats with faraway loved ones and calls for help in emergencies. “But now, things have gotten worse,” she said.
“當它到來的時候，每個人都很高興，”73歲的提納瑪·馬魯博說，她坐在村中“馬洛卡”的泥地板上，“馬洛卡”是一種約15米高的小屋，他們一家人在這裡睡覺、做飯和吃飯。網際網路帶來了明顯的好處，比如與遠方的親人影片聊天，以及在緊急情況下尋求幫助。“但現在，情況變得更糟了，”她說。
The Marubo are struggling with the internet’s fundamental dilemma: It has become essential — at a cost.
馬魯博人正努力應對網際網路的根本困境：它已經變得必不可少——但這是有代價的。
After only nine months with Starlink, the Marubo are already grappling with the same challenges that have racked American households for years: teenagers glued to phones; group chats full of gossip; addictive social networks; online strangers; violent video games; scams; misinformation; and minors watching pornography.
在與星鏈合作僅九個月後，馬魯博人已經開始應對困擾美國家庭多年的同樣挑戰：青少年沉迷手機；群聊裡充滿流言蜚語；社交網路讓人上癮；網上的陌生人；暴力電子遊戲；詐騙；不實資訊；未成年人看色情內容。
Modern society has dealt with these issues over decades as the internet continued its relentless march. The Marubo and other Indigenous tribes, who have resisted modernity for generations, are now confronting the internet’s potential and peril all at once, while debating what it will mean for their identity and culture.
隨著網際網路的不斷發展，現代社會幾十年來一直在應對這些問題。在馬魯博和其他土著部落，幾代人以來，人們一直抵制現代化，現在他們同時面對網際網路的潛力和危險，還要它對他們的身份和文化來說意味著什麼。
That debate has arrived now because of Starlink, which has quickly dominated the satellite-internet market worldwide by providing service once unthinkable in such remote areas. SpaceX has done so by launching 6,000 low-orbiting Starlink satellites — roughly 60 percent of all active spacecraft — to deliver speeds faster than many home internet connections to just about anywhere on Earth, including the Sahara, the Mongolian grasslands and tiny Pacific islands.
由於星鏈的出現，這場爭論現在已經到來。透過在如此偏遠的地區提供曾經無法想象的服務，星鏈迅速主導了全球衛星網際網路市場。SpaceX已經發射了6000顆低軌道星鏈衛星（約佔所有在執行的航天器的60%），為地球上幾乎任何地方提供比許多家庭網際網路更快的速度，包括在撒哈拉沙漠、蒙古草原和太平洋小島。
But perhaps Starlink’s most transformative effect is in areas once largely out of the internet’s reach, like the Amazon. There are now 66,000 active contracts in the Brazilian Amazon, touching 93 percent of the region’s legal municipalities. That has opened new job and education opportunities for those who live in the forest. It has also given illegal loggers and miners in the Amazon a new tool to communicate and evade authorities.
但是，也許星鏈最具變革性的影響發生在那些曾經基本上不在網際網路覆蓋範圍之內的地區，比如亞馬孫。目前，巴西亞馬孫地區有6.6萬份有效合同，涉及該地區93%的法定市鎮。這為那些生活在森林裡的人提供了新的工作和教育機會。它還為亞馬孫地區的非法伐木者和採礦者提供了一種通訊和逃避當局的新工具。
One Marubo leader, Enoque Marubo (all Marubo use the same surname), 40, said he immediately saw Starlink’s potential. After spending years outside the forest, he said he believed the internet could give his people new autonomy. With it, they could communicate better, inform themselves and tell their own stories.
馬魯博的一位首領、40歲的伊諾克·馬魯博（所有馬魯博人都使用同一個姓）說，他立即看到了星鏈的潛力。在離開叢林多年後，他說他相信網際網路可以給他的人民帶來新的自主權。有了它，他們可以更好地溝通，瞭解自己，講述自己的故事。
Last year, he and a Brazilian activist recorded a 50-second video seeking help getting Starlink from potential benefactors. He wore his traditional Marubo headdress and sat in the maloca. A toddler wearing a necklace of animal teeth sat nearby.
去年，他和一名巴西活動人士錄製了一段50秒的影片，尋求潛在捐助者幫助他們獲得星鏈的連線。影片中他戴著傳統的馬魯博頭飾，坐在馬洛卡里。一個戴著動物牙齒項鍊的小孩坐在他旁邊。
They sent it off. Days later, they heard back from a woman in Oklahoma.
他們把影片發了出去。幾天後，他們收到了俄克拉荷馬州一位女士的回覆。
The Tribe
部落
The Javari Valley Indigenous Territory is one of the most isolated places on Earth, a dense stretch of rainforest the size of Portugal with no roads and a maze of waterways. Nineteen of the 26 tribes in the Javari Valley live in full isolation, the highest concentration in the world.
哈瓦里河谷原住民領地是地球上最為與世隔絕的地方之一，這片茂密的雨林面積與葡萄牙相當，沒有道路，只有迷宮般的水道。哈瓦里山谷有26個部落，是世界上最密集的部落群，其中有19個完全與外界隔絕。
The Marubo were once uncontacted, too, roaming the forest for hundreds of years, until rubber tappers arrived near the end of the 19th century. That led to decades of violence and disease — and the arrival of new customs and technology. The Marubo began wearing clothes. Some learned Portuguese. They swapped bows for firearms to hunt wild boar, and machetes for chain saws to clear plots for cassava.
馬魯博人也曾經與世隔絕，在叢林裡遊蕩了幾百年，直到19世紀末採集橡膠的人來到這裡。由此而來的是數十年的暴力和疾病，同時也帶來了新的習俗和技術。馬魯博人開始穿衣服。一些人學習葡萄牙語。他們把弓箭換成了獵槍來獵殺野豬，把砍刀換成了鏈鋸來清理木薯地。
One family in particular pushed this change. In the 1960s, Sebastião Marubo was one of the first Marubo to live outside the forest. When he returned, he brought another new technology: the boat motor. It cut trips from weeks to days.
有一個家庭尤其在推動這一變化。在20世紀60年代，塞巴斯蒂昂·馬魯博是第一批在叢林之外生活的馬魯博之一。他回來時帶來了另一項新技術：船舶發動機。它可以把幾周的行程縮短到幾天。
His son Enoque emerged as a leader of the next generation, eager to pull his tribe into the future. Enoque has split his life between the forest and the city, working at one point as a graphic designer for Coca-Cola. So when Marubo leaders became interested in getting internet connections, they went to him to ask how.
他的兒子伊諾克成為了下一代領袖，渴望帶領部落走向未來。伊諾克輾轉於叢林和城市，曾經做過可口可樂的平面設計師。所以當馬魯博人的首領對接入網際網路感興趣時，他們就去找他詢問。
Enoque got his answer when Mr. Musk came to Brazil. In 2022, the SpaceX owner and Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president at the time, announced Starlink’s arrival in front of a screen that said, “Connecting the Amazon.”
馬斯克來到巴西后，伊諾克有了答案。2022年，這位SpaceX的所有者和時任巴西總統雅伊爾·博爾索納羅在寫著“連線亞馬孫”的螢幕前宣佈了星鏈的到來。
Enoque and Flora Dutra, a Brazilian activist who works with Indigenous tribes, sent letters to more than 100 members of Congress asking for Starlink. None responded.
伊諾克和與原住民部落合作的巴西活動人士弗洛拉·杜特拉向100多名國會議員致信，要求獲得星鏈，但沒有回應。
Then early last year, Ms. Dutra saw an American woman speak at a space conference. Ms. Dutra checked the woman’s Facebook page and saw her posing outside SpaceX’s headquarters. “I knew she was the one,” she said.
去年年初，杜特拉看到一位美國女性在一個太空會議上發言。杜特拉查看了她的Facebook頁面，看到她在SpaceX總部外拍照。“我知道她就是我要找的人，”她說。
The Benefactor
捐贈者
Allyson Reneau’s LinkedIn page describes her as a space consultant, keynote speaker, author, pilot, equestrian, humanitarian, chief executive, board director and mother of 11 biological children. In person, she says she makes most of her money coaching gymnastics and renting houses near Norman, Okla.
艾莉森·勒諾在領英頁面上的描述是太空顧問、主題講者、作家、飛行員、馬術運動員、人道主義者、執行長、董事和11個親生子女的母親。她說，她本人的大部分收入都來自在俄克拉荷馬州諾曼附近做體操教練和出租房屋。
Ms. Reneau said she did not try to help people for fame. “Otherwise, I’d be telling you about all the projects I do all over the world,” she said in an interview. “It’s the look on the face, it’s the hope in the eyes. That’s the trophy.”
勒諾說，她並不是為了出名而幫助別人。“否則，我會告訴你我在世界各地開展的所有專案，”她在接受採訪時說。“那是為了臉上的表情，是為了眼睛裡的希望。這些就是獎盃。”
She said she had that perspective when she received a video from a stranger last year asking to help connect a remote Amazon tribe.
她說，去年，她從一個陌生人那裡收到了一段影片，請求幫助為一個偏遠的亞馬孫部落建立網路連線，當時她就有了這樣的想法。
She had never been to Brazil but thought the return on investment was high. Enoque was asking for 20 Starlink antennas, which would cost roughly $15,000, to transform life for his tribe.
她從未去過巴西，但認為投資回報會很高。伊諾克想要20部星鏈天線來改變他的部落的生活，大約需要1.5萬美元。
Ms. Reneau said she bought the antennas with her own money and donations from her children. Then she booked a flight to go help deliver them.
勒諾說，她用自己的錢和孩子們的捐款買了這些天線。然後她訂了機票去幫忙送貨。
The Connection
連線
The internet arrived on the backs of men. They trudged miles through the forest, barefoot or in flip-flops, carrying two antennas each.
網際網路裝置是男人們背進來的，有人光著腳，有人穿著人字拖，在叢林裡跋涉數公里，每人揹著兩部天線。
Just behind were Enoque, Ms. Dutra, Ms. Reneau and a cameraman documenting her journey.
緊隨其後的是伊諾克、杜特拉、勒諾和一名記錄她這次旅程的攝影師。
The internet was an immediate sensation. “It changed the routine so much that it was detrimental,” Enoque admitted. “In the village, if you don’t hunt, fish and plant, you don’t eat.”
網際網路的到來立刻引起了轟動。“這極大地改變了我們的日常生活，以至於產生了有害影響，”伊諾克承認。“在村裡，如果你不打獵、不捕魚、不種菜，就沒有飯吃。”
Leaders realized they needed limits. The internet would be switched on for only two hours in the morning, five hours in the evening, and all day Sunday.
部落首領意識到需要限制。他們決定，網際網路將只在早上開放兩小時，晚上開放五小時，週日全天開放。
辯論
Alfredo Marubo, leader of a Marubo association of villages, has emerged as the tribe’s most vocal critic of the internet. The Marubo pass down their history and culture orally, and he worries that knowledge will be lost. “Everyone is so connected that sometimes they don’t even talk to their own family,” he said.
阿爾弗雷多·馬魯博是一個馬魯博村莊聯合會的領導人，他已成為部落中對網際網路最直言不諱的批評者。馬魯博人以口頭方式傳承歷史和文化，他擔心這些知識會流失。“所有人都泡在網上，有時他們甚至不和自己的家人說話，”他說。
He is most unsettled by the pornography. He said young men were sharing explicit videos in group chats, a stunning development for a culture that frowns on kissing in public.
色情內容最令他不安。他說，年輕人在群聊中分享露骨影片，這對於一個不贊成在公共場合接吻的文化來說是一個驚人的變化。
未來
In April, Ms. Reneau traveled back to the forest. At Enoque’s request, she bought four more antennas. Two were headed to the Korubo, a tribe of less than 150 people that was first contacted in 1996 and still has some members in full isolation.
今年4月，勒諾回到了叢林。在伊諾克的要求下，她又買了四部天線。其中兩個被送往科魯博部落，那是一個人口不到150人的部落，1996年首次與外界接觸，至今仍有一些成員完全與世隔絕。
Sitting on a log, eating dried beef and boiled cassava served on the maloca’s dirt floor, Ms. Reneau said she recognized the internet was “a double-edged sword.” So when she posts on Facebook about bringing the Marubo internet, she said, she always stresses that a leader requested it.
勒諾坐在一根原木上，吃著放在馬洛卡泥土地面上的幹牛肉和煮木薯，她說她意識到網際網路是“一把雙刃劍”。因此，她說，當她在Facebook上釋出給馬魯博帶來網際網路的訊息時，她總是強調，這是應一位當地首領的要求。
“I don’t want people to think I’m bringing this in to force it on them,” she said. She added that she hoped they could “preserve the purity of this incredible culture because once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
“我不想讓人們認為我把這些東西帶進來是為了強加給他們。”她說。她還說，她希望他們能夠“保護這種令人難以置信的文化的純潔性，因為一旦它消失了，那就是真的消失了”。
Later at that same meal, Enoque’s father, Sebastião, said the tribe’s journey with the internet had been foretold.
飯後，伊諾克的父親塞巴斯蒂安說，關於部落的網際網路之旅，已經有過預言。
Decades ago, the most respected Marubo shaman had visions of a hand-held device that could connect with the entire world. “It would be for the good of the people,” he said. “But in the end, it wouldn’t be.”
幾十年前，一位最受尊敬的馬魯博人巫師設想了一種可以連線整個世界的手持裝置。“這將造福人民，”他說。“但最終卻並非如此。”
Regardless, he added, going back was no longer an option.
無論如何，他補充說，已經沒有辦法回到過去。
“The leaders have been clear,” he said. “We can’t live without the internet.”
“首領們已經說得很清楚了，”他說。“我們不能沒有網際網路。”