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Saturday, August 4, 2018
Good entertainment, shallow anthropology
"Tribe" a.k.a. "Going Tribal" is a British series featuring former Royal Marine Bruce Perry.
In each episode, Perry visits an obscure "tribal" people. He tries to "go native", which usually ends in complete failure. Some of the peoples he visits turns out to be pretty bizarre. The Adi largely feed on rats, the Kombai turn out to be cannibals (although they just can't say no to a package of Marlboro), and the Sanema is a people where everyone is a shaman constantly high on drugs! Among the Babongo, Perry himself takes hallucinogenic drugs and experiences complete ecstasy (and a lot of vomiting). In Ethiopia, the mercenary Nyangatom, upon realizing that Perry is a former soldier, promptly makes him a member of their marauding militia.
I don't deny that the series is extremely entertaining. For once, the joke's on both the natives and the Western visitor. Apparently, however, there is also a serious intention behind "Tribe": to promote and defend the vanishing lifestyles of Fourth World peoples. I'm not sure whether the series really accomplishes this. To me, it comes across more as comic relief.
As anthropology, "Tribe" is quite shallow. Take the Adi, for instance. Do they really hunt and eat rats out of their own free will? The episode hints at another explanation: when the Adi got hold of modern firearms, they quickly exterminated all large game animals in their territory. For that reason, their hunting parties have no other option than to kill small birds, monkeys, and...rats. What looked like a goofy cultural practice ("hey, they actually love the taste of rats") turns out to have a more mundane explanation.
And what about the Sanema? Can a people where *everyone* is constantly high on psychedelic drugs really exist? I got the impression that this "people" is actually a smaller community in a severe state of decline or even collapse. Indeed, they seemed completely dependent on outside support for survival!
As good-humoured entertainment, "Tribe" isn't bad. It may give you a good laugh or two. But don't expect deeper anthropological insights from it.
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