Pete Standing Alone

Sergeant Farrell's Theory, Prij, 2005

Back last May I read the story about an uncontacted tribe in Brazil. The picture of their show of force against the low flying plane still makes me laugh. How can they not know what a plane is?

Throughout the Amazon and New Guinea, isolated tribes are blissfully unaware of humanity-at-large. There are some tribes which reject continued-contact with the outside world, which is understandable since up to 90% of the Americas were killed off after 1492. Many are trying to stave off ethnocide and protect their culture from the inevitable assimilation that will occur.

The article quotes a Brazilian official saying encroachment is "a monumental crime against the natural world", but the tribe is not natural. They have shelter and weapons, they have already started down the technological whitewater, and you can't stand up in the current. They're primitive only in relation to the rest of us.

Any culture unable to survive, will not last. How long can they remain isolated? 100 years or more, unaware they're a protected species on a nature reserve, whilst the rest of humanity is doing things they can't comprehend. Is it right to be in a prison you're unaware of?

This is not to say their culture does not offer unique perspectives, but one day the bliss of ignorance will suddenly be revealed as hell. No culture left behind.

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