A video of a Papuan tribe's first contact with the white man and the outside world.
P.S. sorry I couldn't embed the video since Youtube has flagged it as material unsuitable for anyone below 18, so I needed to be signed in, but I haven't a Youtube account. Yet, at least.
SubhanAllah. This has to be one of the most fascinating videos I've ever seen. Thank you Stumbleupon!
What we have here is an anthropologist's dream come true. The white man discovers a race of humans completely cut off from the outside world. They have grown up in what can be called a test tube, completely isolated from the rest of the world and therefore have NO form of external influence. They are a product, as is everyone, of environment. Their lives, culture, religion etc. are all dictated by their immediate surroundings, i.e. the jungle.
Why was this a unique opportunity? Because it would let us 'extraterrestrials' (to the Toulambi) differentiate, to a certain extent at least, between human habits, behaviours etc. that are innate and those that are learned (On the downside though, we may end up giving them a foreign disease. The white man is famous for that. Happened in War of the Worlds when a human disease is what wiped out the aliens and to the Red Indians, when their unprepared immune systems were exposed to smallpox for the first time, an exclusively European and Asian disease till then). For example, why do we kiss, hug and shake hands? How can something as ridiculous as two people touching lips evoke such a landslide of tumultuous emotions? It's not like we have any physiologic erotic receptors on our lips. Hence, what naturally follows is to find out if tribes like the Toulambi kiss. If yes, then either the kiss and its associated emotions
a) are innate,
b) by some remarkable coincidence developed in the Toulambi tribe on their own,
c) we have yet to discover erotic receptors on our lips.
A word of caution though: As a Muslim, I believe that Allah (SWT) sent guidance to all people from among their own. Which means at some point more than 1400 years ago, some prophet was sent to the Toulambi (or whatever they were back then). Ergo, if some of their habits are familiar to us, it could be entirely possible that this is a trickle-down effect of what that/those prophet(s) taught the Toulambi all those years ago, even if they did modify their religion afterwards (which is what happened with the Jews and Christians). Which also raises the interesting question: if they have been in isolation since before the arrival of Islam in Indonesia, that would mean they haven't received the deen (Islam) as yet. Hence, whatever religion they followed all this time was all they had. And since Allah (SWT) chose not to let the message of Islam reach them, whatever religion they have had would be the one they have to stick to. Would Allah (SWT) then judge them according to whatever they were following? Even if the tribesmen's ancestors changed their religion all those years ago? Something here doesn't sit right with me.
Of course, there are always the detractors:
http://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2011/07/toulambi-1976-contact-fact-or-fable.html
Even if the above video was orchestrated by actors (who then definitely deserve an Oscar), there probably were at some point and possibly still are such tribes tucked away in the remote parts of the Amazon etc. who have yet to make first contact with the outside world. Anthropologists should not miss out on any opportunity to study such people before globalization and the culture of conformity swallow them whole.
P.S. Interesting how everyone was skeptical and fearful until the Belgian brought out the rice. Then, there were smiles all around. Which proves one thing: the adage 'The way to a man's heart is through his stomach' goes back a LOT longer than we think. Oh, and I loved the Toulambis' reaction to the mirror.
Some more 'test-tube' tribes:
http://www.adventurebimbling.com/travel-articles/7-indigenous-tribes-of-indonesia/
P.S. sorry I couldn't embed the video since Youtube has flagged it as material unsuitable for anyone below 18, so I needed to be signed in, but I haven't a Youtube account. Yet, at least.
SubhanAllah. This has to be one of the most fascinating videos I've ever seen. Thank you Stumbleupon!
What we have here is an anthropologist's dream come true. The white man discovers a race of humans completely cut off from the outside world. They have grown up in what can be called a test tube, completely isolated from the rest of the world and therefore have NO form of external influence. They are a product, as is everyone, of environment. Their lives, culture, religion etc. are all dictated by their immediate surroundings, i.e. the jungle.
Why was this a unique opportunity? Because it would let us 'extraterrestrials' (to the Toulambi) differentiate, to a certain extent at least, between human habits, behaviours etc. that are innate and those that are learned (On the downside though, we may end up giving them a foreign disease. The white man is famous for that. Happened in War of the Worlds when a human disease is what wiped out the aliens and to the Red Indians, when their unprepared immune systems were exposed to smallpox for the first time, an exclusively European and Asian disease till then). For example, why do we kiss, hug and shake hands? How can something as ridiculous as two people touching lips evoke such a landslide of tumultuous emotions? It's not like we have any physiologic erotic receptors on our lips. Hence, what naturally follows is to find out if tribes like the Toulambi kiss. If yes, then either the kiss and its associated emotions
a) are innate,
b) by some remarkable coincidence developed in the Toulambi tribe on their own,
c) we have yet to discover erotic receptors on our lips.
A word of caution though: As a Muslim, I believe that Allah (SWT) sent guidance to all people from among their own. Which means at some point more than 1400 years ago, some prophet was sent to the Toulambi (or whatever they were back then). Ergo, if some of their habits are familiar to us, it could be entirely possible that this is a trickle-down effect of what that/those prophet(s) taught the Toulambi all those years ago, even if they did modify their religion afterwards (which is what happened with the Jews and Christians). Which also raises the interesting question: if they have been in isolation since before the arrival of Islam in Indonesia, that would mean they haven't received the deen (Islam) as yet. Hence, whatever religion they followed all this time was all they had. And since Allah (SWT) chose not to let the message of Islam reach them, whatever religion they have had would be the one they have to stick to. Would Allah (SWT) then judge them according to whatever they were following? Even if the tribesmen's ancestors changed their religion all those years ago? Something here doesn't sit right with me.
Of course, there are always the detractors:
http://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2011/07/toulambi-1976-contact-fact-or-fable.html
Even if the above video was orchestrated by actors (who then definitely deserve an Oscar), there probably were at some point and possibly still are such tribes tucked away in the remote parts of the Amazon etc. who have yet to make first contact with the outside world. Anthropologists should not miss out on any opportunity to study such people before globalization and the culture of conformity swallow them whole.
P.S. Interesting how everyone was skeptical and fearful until the Belgian brought out the rice. Then, there were smiles all around. Which proves one thing: the adage 'The way to a man's heart is through his stomach' goes back a LOT longer than we think. Oh, and I loved the Toulambis' reaction to the mirror.
Some more 'test-tube' tribes:
http://www.adventurebimbling.com/travel-articles/7-indigenous-tribes-of-indonesia/
1 comments:
Have you read Guns, Germs and Steel, Faysal? I ask because you mention anthropology and its a good book on the topic.
Anyway, I'm slowly going through your blog. Its fairly fascinating :D I'm impressed.
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