First contact with an indigenous tribe

Doozie · 04-01-2010 9:16pm #1

I would be interested to hear peoples take on this bbc documentary. I've uploaded the first bit of the documentary but it basically shows a tour guide who advertises trips where visitors can meet a New Guinea tribe who have supposedly never been in contact with people outside their tribe. The pay up to 8000 dollars? for the trip.
The arguement is that we should know better than pollute other cultures with our western ways but also that we could learn so much from them if we do. There is not much discussion on the risks of such contact with the indigenous tribe, eg. disease. What do you think?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jprJBYYRcqQ

looksee · 05-01-2010 2:12am

It seems to me this is wrong on every level. For a start you can only lose your virginity once, so how long before they have to admit that the tribes are being 'recycled'.
But leaving aside the whole business of the tourists being scammed - and I have no sympathy for them - the tribes are at very least being introduced to 'civilised' cynicism and their way of life is being sold to make money for a few entrepreneurs. And yes, what would a dose of swine flu do to them, or any other disease that they haven't so far come across.
People should not be turned either into a theme park or a nature reserve. It is inevitable that they will become involved with the 'outside' world, but this is blatently taking advantage.
Or of course it could be that we are the ones being scammed. The whole thing is so unlikely when you think about how far you would have to walk tourists to find people so genuinely remote that they have never met anyone from the outside world. It makes a good story though, spaghetti trees come to mind.

Capt'n Midnight · 05-01-2010 3:43am

Two incidents come to mind

The Dogon and the stars and them Indonesian guys with the fire pumps. In both cases the knowledge was readily available in the west and yet somehow the tribes knew it too. Aliens :eek: or more likely prior contact.

Doozie · 05-01-2010 10:46am

I should say that the journalist who went on the excursion was testing to see if it really was first contact. When he did meet the tribe they were wearing necklaces and one or two had t-shirts so there had definitely been some sort of prior contact before.
The guy running the trips came across as very naive and innocent about the experience and saw it more as a union of cultures rather than anything corrupt.

Thats my problem with it, should you leave well enough alone, ie. the tribes or not?

Azelfafage · 06-01-2010 6:32pm

It is a fashion to laud people who are poor.

When the Romans attacked northwards across the Alps both the Celts and the Germans benifited.

The Celts and the Germans learned how to read and write.
.

morphem · 29-03-2010 9:18pm

As everything the contact between tribes and so called 'Western culture' can have its pros and cons. Indigenous can take some kind of adventage as well as lose something. The most significant example is for me John Frum cult. Unfortunately there is not current research on that topic.

recedite · 05-06-2010 10:19am

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Two incidents come to mind

or more likely prior contact.

Back in the 1970's I would say, going by their hairstyles.

Capt'n Midnight · 06-06-2010 12:25am

Another first contact scenario

http://bash.org/?262417

<_kr4m3r> so many fúcking criminals, its bull****
<foniks`> heh, if we sent all the criminals to some empty continent and just left them there to die
<foniks`> and showed up like 50yrs later like, "sup?"
<foniks`> whatd u think they'd say?
<FoSZoR[bg]> something along the lines of, "G`Day mate"

Seloth · 07-06-2010 4:22pm

Read about this a good while back,it was disprove as mentioned above these tribes were contacted long ago.

What an insult though it would be if your first contact with the world was a tourist thing.

Imagine that with Earth and Aliens" Of Zink,look at these funny people staring at us!" Everyone in the world going "WTF WTF WTF!!!"

SugarHigh · 07-06-2010 7:38pm

part 6 has been removed.:(

steddyeddy · 01-07-2010 2:34am

Well regardless for example of wheter a tribe with dark skin has made contact with the white man they could still be aware of the white skinned people , tribes in the amazon who were "discovered" by civilized society first came into contact with the white man and told them they knew of the through communications with other tribes that had met them!

steddyeddy · 01-07-2010 2:36am

Azelfafage wrote: »

It is a fashion to laud people who are poor.

When the Romans attacked northwards across the Alps both the Celts and the Germans benifited.

The Celts and the Germans learned how to read and write.
.

In some ways i consider the celts to be more advanced than the romans, the equality laws for example, also i believe their calander was more advanced.

Capt'n Midnight · 01-07-2010 12:44pm

steddyeddy wrote: »

In some ways i consider the celts to be more advanced than the romans, the equality laws for example, also i believe their calander was more advanced.

we still use some of the celtic law here

if you are rich you are far less likely to suffer a physical punishment

First contact with an indigenous tribe

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