RubySoho
Winston
What Now For The Uncontacted Tribe Of Brazil? (or The Gods Must Be Crazy part 6)
June 2nd 2008 01:44
As you may be aware, last week the Brazilian Government released some incredible photographs of one the Amazon’s last remaining uncontacted tribes. The tribe live in a protected area of the Amazon jungle near the border of Peru. The photographs absolutely bowled me over when I saw them. This is a tribe of people that have never made contact with the ‘civilized’ world. This is a fact that I find difficult to comprehend. I think of the history of the world- the rise of civilization, the empires that have risen and fallen, the conquests, the wars, the Inquisition, the discovery of the Americas, the Industrial Revolution, the invention of the steam train, the horseless carriage, the advances in astronomy and other sciences, the rise of celluloid, the skyline of Manhattan, the first dog in space, the first man in space, the landing on the moon, the fall of the Berlin Wall…god help me, I am starting to sound like Billy Joel, but you get my drift. I am blown away when I think that through all of that, this tribe of people has been living the same simple life they always have- at one with the land, not taking more than they need, not causing any damage and destruction, just simply living.
And now they are under threat. The Brazilian Government released the photographs to prove that the tribe exists and call attention to the fact that their home and way of life, their very existence is in danger. The pictures were taken by Survival International (SI), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to fighting for the rights of Indigenous groups world over. According to Stephen Corry, the head of SI, more than half of the world’s uncontacted tribes live in Brazil and Peru and many of them are in danger from illegal logging.
The photos were taken from a plane that circled above the tribe’s thatched huts and understandably the tribes people look a little freaked out and are waving arrows and spears at the plane. Jose Carlos dos Reis Meirelles Junior (let’s just call him Junior), has said “"We did the overflight to show their houses, to show they are there, to show they exist...This is very important because there are some who doubt their existence.”
Junior goes on to call the threat to this and other tribes and their land as “"a monumental crime against the natural world…further testimony to the complete irrationality with which we, the 'civilised' ones, treat the world". SI also states that the tribes are at risk from diseases such as chicken pox and the common cold against which their immune systems have not developed a defence.
The Government has said that it is reluctant to make contact with the tribe and would do so only as a last resort, “in this case it would not be making contact with them. It would be rescuing them”.
I can’t help but wondering if it isn’t already too late. Remember the scene from the South African film The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980, Directed by Jamie Uys) 9it spawned four sequels!)? Basically a remote tribe in Africa finds a coke bottle that has been piffed thoughtlessly from a light plane, and they become convinced it is a gift from the Gods. Hilarity ensues. In a nutshell the tribe find many uses for the coke bottle and it’s all fun and games for a while until they start fighting over it because one coke bottle is not enough to go around. In essence the tribe has been exposed to the civilised notion of property, which starts to spell their doom. They start to turn against each other. In order to return harmony to the tribe, Xi, the man who found the bottle (which is now seen as a curse), is chosen to go on a journey to throw the bottle off the edge of the earth. Along the way, he makes his first ever contact with the civilised world. More hilarity ensues.
Now, I don’t mean to be melodramatic but I wonder what effect the plane has had on this Amazonian tribe. It is most likely that they have never seen nor heard planes before so one can only imagine their confusion and sheer terror. What have they made of it? What possible reasons could they be postulating for its existence? Are they, even now, alert and alarmed, waiting and fearing its return? Or has it now achieved some sort of mythical and/or religious significance? Is this how religion starts, from the mysterious appearance of an unexplained and unexplainable entity or occurrence?
I am aware the photographs were taken with the best of intentions and are quite likely a vital tool in the fight for the protection of the land and its people but it saddens me that it had to come to that. What happens to them now? Even if the Government and SI are successful in their fight I can’t help thinking that a great deal of damage has been done in the process and this tribe may never be the same again.
Or maybe I just watch too many tacky movies?
-Ruby
p.s As a special treat, here is the first two and a half minutes from The Gods Must Be Crazy:
Reference:
BBC NEWS: Isolated tribe spotted in Brazil
Images from Survival International
UPDATE: June 25th.
WhenIi wrote this blog the impression I got from the BBC report was that this was not a 'lost' tribe but an 'uncontacted' tribe. That is to say that the discovery of the tribe was not new when the photographs were taken. I have since discovered that many people were led to believe that the tribe's existence has only just been uncovered. Apparently, the photographer has just come 'clean' saying that the tribe has been known to anthropologists since 1910. However, he still maintains that no contact- bar the planes flying overhead- have been made with the tribe.
I personally don't think that changes the significance of the story but just wanted to update all the info. Really Long Link
And now they are under threat. The Brazilian Government released the photographs to prove that the tribe exists and call attention to the fact that their home and way of life, their very existence is in danger. The pictures were taken by Survival International (SI), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to fighting for the rights of Indigenous groups world over. According to Stephen Corry, the head of SI, more than half of the world’s uncontacted tribes live in Brazil and Peru and many of them are in danger from illegal logging.
The photos were taken from a plane that circled above the tribe’s thatched huts and understandably the tribes people look a little freaked out and are waving arrows and spears at the plane. Jose Carlos dos Reis Meirelles Junior (let’s just call him Junior), has said “"We did the overflight to show their houses, to show they are there, to show they exist...This is very important because there are some who doubt their existence.”
Junior goes on to call the threat to this and other tribes and their land as “"a monumental crime against the natural world…further testimony to the complete irrationality with which we, the 'civilised' ones, treat the world". SI also states that the tribes are at risk from diseases such as chicken pox and the common cold against which their immune systems have not developed a defence.
The Government has said that it is reluctant to make contact with the tribe and would do so only as a last resort, “in this case it would not be making contact with them. It would be rescuing them”.
I can’t help but wondering if it isn’t already too late. Remember the scene from the South African film The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980, Directed by Jamie Uys) 9it spawned four sequels!)? Basically a remote tribe in Africa finds a coke bottle that has been piffed thoughtlessly from a light plane, and they become convinced it is a gift from the Gods. Hilarity ensues. In a nutshell the tribe find many uses for the coke bottle and it’s all fun and games for a while until they start fighting over it because one coke bottle is not enough to go around. In essence the tribe has been exposed to the civilised notion of property, which starts to spell their doom. They start to turn against each other. In order to return harmony to the tribe, Xi, the man who found the bottle (which is now seen as a curse), is chosen to go on a journey to throw the bottle off the edge of the earth. Along the way, he makes his first ever contact with the civilised world. More hilarity ensues.
Now, I don’t mean to be melodramatic but I wonder what effect the plane has had on this Amazonian tribe. It is most likely that they have never seen nor heard planes before so one can only imagine their confusion and sheer terror. What have they made of it? What possible reasons could they be postulating for its existence? Are they, even now, alert and alarmed, waiting and fearing its return? Or has it now achieved some sort of mythical and/or religious significance? Is this how religion starts, from the mysterious appearance of an unexplained and unexplainable entity or occurrence?
I am aware the photographs were taken with the best of intentions and are quite likely a vital tool in the fight for the protection of the land and its people but it saddens me that it had to come to that. What happens to them now? Even if the Government and SI are successful in their fight I can’t help thinking that a great deal of damage has been done in the process and this tribe may never be the same again.
Or maybe I just watch too many tacky movies?
-Ruby
p.s As a special treat, here is the first two and a half minutes from The Gods Must Be Crazy:
Reference:
BBC NEWS: Isolated tribe spotted in Brazil
Images from Survival International
UPDATE: June 25th.
WhenIi wrote this blog the impression I got from the BBC report was that this was not a 'lost' tribe but an 'uncontacted' tribe. That is to say that the discovery of the tribe was not new when the photographs were taken. I have since discovered that many people were led to believe that the tribe's existence has only just been uncovered. Apparently, the photographer has just come 'clean' saying that the tribe has been known to anthropologists since 1910. However, he still maintains that no contact- bar the planes flying overhead- have been made with the tribe.
I personally don't think that changes the significance of the story but just wanted to update all the info. Really Long Link
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Comment by Jeff Musall
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Comment by RubySoho
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*sigh*.
Comment by Louie
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too funny imagine them thinking it is the arrival of some mythical creature sent to end their society.
On a darker note it is very scary that in this day and age ignorance still exists to threaten their existence.
I am with you on the merits of whether the photo's could be taken, they do look very afraid and like you say something like that could seriously rock their world.
Comment by RubySoho
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Then again, it may not be the first time they have seen a light aircraft...who know, maybe others have flown over without been aware of what was underneath them?
But I do have respect for the Brazilian government for actually caring about these people and been brave to admit that it is us- the developed world who could stand to learn the true meaning of "civilised".
Thanks for the comments!
Comment by Morgan Bell
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Comment by RubySoho
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Comment by Mountain Fog
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QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
Next, NBC or CBS or Oprah, will be invading them trying to get the "first interview!"
I can imagine the banal questions, "What was it like when you saw the flying machine?" .. and similar condescending drivel.
sad day indeed.
fog
Comment by RubySoho
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As far as I know the Govt won't reveal the details of where they are and I do think they have the tribes wellbeing in their interest. They will not allow contact unless they are in direct danger.
Although the fact they have seen the plane is a form of contact in itself and we have no way of knowing the effect that has had on them.
Comment by Mountain Fog
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QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
In New Guinea, the tribesmen started a cult, the aircraft cult, they worshipped it as a god, for it was dropping them food and water, and other strange objects! It was during WW2, and they were transports dropping soldier supplies!
I should write about my Dad's experiences, in inland Oz, when he met and befriended tribal people, back in the 1950s. Amazing stuff.
cheers
fog
Comment by RubySoho
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Of course they would start to worship it- how on earth could they explain it otherwise?
Hey I would certainly love to hear about your dad's experiences, fog.
cheers, ruby
Comment by Mountain Fog
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QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
I'll set aside some time, it will have to be a series of articles, as there are a few stories worth telling.
And it would be a nice rememberance homage to my dad.
cheers
fog
Comment by Winston
Small Thoughts on Big Questions
It may well all be exactly as the Brazilian gov't says, but I just can't shake the feeling that perhaps they're overstating the case a bit, or being misled......
It's the skeptic in me, I guess.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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Comment by RubySoho
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Scuse me everyone while I have a conversation with myself Haha. Bradish, if you are reading, that was sarcasm petal.
Actually Winston, I never thought of that. Fake photos..it is entirely possible. I have stated in the comments above that it is possible the tribe have seen planes before but I never considered that the whole thing could be a setup.
Hmmm. Survival International does claim the photos are real and that there are about 100 tribes world wide who have never made contact with the outside world.
Comment by Winston
Small Thoughts on Big Questions
I'm not saying that it isn't true, just that there are a lot of questions unanswered. A couple photos of six dudes painted orange does not quite sell the idea that this is a lost tribe that no one has ever contacted, yada yada yada. Is it probably true? Sure, I suppose. But I'd want a bit more info before I was completely convinced.
You (I??) could never possibly have said that as Rubysoho!
Comment by RubySoho
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Comment by Mountain Fog
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QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
hehehe!
My My!!
Morgan made a witty remark!!!!????!!!
I guess she is learning from a master of witticism...ahem...yes that's right, it's me!
What about adapting it a bit..to make a properly hyphenated name...like; Wuby Twubble-Twoll?
Other combo ideas..
I think Rubston...or Winby are good too...
What if Morgan and I merged...
Morfog? Foggon? Bellfog? Fogbell?
Fogbell Morgmountain...that's best!!
You could start a short lived Orbellian craze here Ruby..
cheers
fog
Comment by RubySoho
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Comment by Winston
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Comment by RubySoho
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Comment by Winston
Small Thoughts on Big Questions
Then again, I can be pretty juvenile.
Comment by RubySoho
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I take it its not good...my friends call me rube or rubes...oh dear....have they been unwittingly insulting me all this time?
Comment by Morgan Bell
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can we be jewish and be Fogbell Morganstein?
and our friend can Wylie Rubinstein!
and my dear naive virginal ruby, how you have been catching aids and getting abortions every week is beyond me with your lack of smutty vocab . . . let the queen of sleaze explain . . . have you ever heard the expression "rub one out" where the "one" is an erection and the process vaguely resembles spanking monkeys??? hahaha
Comment by RubySoho
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In that case its Rinston.
p.s i don't get abortions Morgan. I just like to hang around the clinics and haul the dead babies to the dumpster.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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ps: do you get the feeling that one of these times when we are being sarcastic someone is going to quote me out of context and accuse me of something?
Comment by Mountain Fog
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QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
Anyhoo, what about Winby Rubeston?
And what about my fabulously inventive ideas for Morgan and my name...???
fog
Comment by RubySoho
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I like fogbell morgmountain...or foggan bellmountain.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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Comment by Mountain Fog
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QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
Mountain fog...Morgan Bell...
Bellmoun Fogtain...no sounds like harry Bellafonte..
AHMorg Bellfogussein...crap...doesn't work..
HEY! And BIPOLAR?? So, I must be the nice calm, sensible, intelligent, droll, insightful and laid back...depressive...oh...actu ally...rather not talk about this now...
Arab names...bugger..Ahmed...Husse in..can't think of any other Arab names, we will have to remain Jewish I think, or Jamaican..BELLMOUNT FOGTAIN!!
fog
Comment by Morgan Bell
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oh hang on isnt that ruby? haha
osama-bama-hommad bin-fogden?
i think you are definately my more colourful and kind personality . . . lucky the lobotomy doctor hasnt had you removed!
Comment by Mountain Fog
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QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
I have now been ordered to bed...by my family's 14 and ahalf year old cantankerous pug dog..
fogdog fogpug pugfog...
I MUST get some sleep!
fare thee well, Ruwin Byston,
frighty night Morfog Bellmountgan!!