"Twilight for the Forest People"

[Richard Smith]

Earl,
Very well said.
i thought it might be an appropriate time to share my
"Missionary vs. Anthropologist" vessel here - as an attachment.
I made it to look like a Peruvian stirrup vessel.
the missionary is of course fighting with his Bible (believed to be the word
of God)
the anthropologist is fighting with his measuring stick(seen in many photos
of artifacts)

By the way, social anthropologists can feel just as indignant as
evangelistic missionaries
when we question their motives...I suppose each feels they are being judged
unfairly
and yet often each wants to beat the other to the "pie"

Richard Zane Smith
Wyandotte, Oklahoma



On 6/8/08 10:43 AM, "Earl Otchingwanigan" <wiigwaas at MSN.COM> wrote:

> Greetings Don Osborn et al: The dilemma is not whether to leave the isolated
> peoples to their fate or not, the dilemma is the seemingly inherent nature of
> humankind's inability to not interfere with anything that exists in a natural
> condition.  This peculiarity is easily noted; tell someone to not touch
> something, the moment your back is turned, they will touch it.  As a native
> person however, there exists a mentality within certain cultures and groups
> that has continually perplexed me.  To cite as to what I have speaks of here,
> in "my" area of the Great Lakes, when the first Europeans arrived, they saw
> the wolf as part of a grand primeval scheme to prevent the advancement in
> bettering their idea of what life should be.  By 1940, the wolf was nearly
> extinct along with the wanton clear cutting of the virgin timber.  The Lake
> States actually had "licensed" hunters to eradicate the wolf thereby making
> "life safe" and to improve the deer herd for the benefit of the annual deer
> hunt and hunters so that they can "reconnect" with their "roots".  Recently,
> the wolf population has made a comeback, but of course it now poses a
> perceived "threat" and therefore needs regulation so everyone will feel safe
> on their ATVs and snowmobiles whilst in the "wilds", not to mention, a few
> farmers complaining that the wolf might just kill a calf.  Referencing Don
> Osborn's "pardon for the dumb question", rather let us refer to it as a
> thought incomplete.  It would seem to me, no peoples ever existed without
> contact with others, certainly, indigenous people continually interact with
> each other.  No one is isolated.  As to the second part of the question, if
> that area of the rainforest is presently "untouched" and these natives
> dwelling there have successfully retained their lifestyle, then currently in
> this condition how can it "still [be] an area dominated by people from [the]
> dominant cultures" save for Brazil or Peru's claim to a "non-discovery", ah
> but then the chainsaw, yes!  Regardless of the quaintness of John Noble
> Wilford's article in the NY Times, especially written from perhaps a
> high-rise, on the plight of these people, it all comes back to the original
> theory of don't touch it.  You can now be assured with all the publicity that
> these "poor natives" will now need to be rescued and saved, most of all, their
> souls, and brought forth to share in the fruits of what all modern life has to
> offer, please!  This occurred with my people, and man, well.....no need to go
> there, now is there?  After all, I can speak only for myself.  Cheers, Earl
> Otchingwanigan
>         
>>  
>> ----- Original Message -----
>>  
>> From: Don Osborn <mailto:dzo at BISHARAT.NET>
>>  
>> To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
>>  
>> Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2008 7:53 AM
>>  
>> Subject: [ILAT] "Twilight for the Forest  People"
>>  
>> 
>>  
>>  
>> 
>> FYIŠ The article frames a dilemma in terms of ³whether to  leave them
>> [isolated peoples] to their fate or to assimilate them into the  larger world
>> before they are extinguished.² I assume the range of options is  not quite
>> that simple. Pardon the dumb question, but are indigenous groups of  any sort
>> involved in initial contacts, or is this still an area dominated by  people
>> from the dominant cultures?
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> Twilight for the Forest People
>>  
>> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/weekinreview/08wilford.html
>>  
>> By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
>>  
>> Published: June 8, 2008
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> The world is closing in on the few remaining people who  live in such remote
>> isolation as to seem not of this world.
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> Š
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> A reminder of their situation came recently with the  publication of aerial
>> photographs of the encampment of a tribe in the upper  reaches of the Amazon
>> River in Brazil, near the border with Peru. The pictures  showed a line of
>> neat huts and people looking up at the small airplane. Two  men, their faces
>> and bodies painted red, raised bows and arrows as a pointed  warning to the
>> intruder.
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> As survivors whose continued survival is very much in  doubt, these last
>> primitive tribes hidden away in the planet¹s most remote  reaches pose a
>> dilemma for their would-be protectors: whether to leave them to  their fate
>> or to assimilate them into the larger world before they are  extinguished.
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> Neither course promises a happy ending.
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> If they remain isolated, these populations may cling to  their way of life a
>> little longer. Some have moved deeper into the rainforest,  away from
>> encroaching loggers and oil prospectors. But the bulldozers and saws  seem
>> destined to end their solitude.
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> If they are removed and survive the exposure to diseases  they have never
>> encountered, it is likely that the unique knowledge and  beliefs that define
>> them, the spirit of their life, will probably slip  away.
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> The Brazilian government¹s National Indian Foundation,  Funai, came upon the
>> encampment as it was making one of its regular patrols of  the scattered
>> settlements of tribes in the State of Acre who are thought to  have had
>> little direct contact with the outside world. The picture-taking  plane had
>> no intention of landing: it was only checking the location and  apparent
>> well-being of the people.
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> Survival International, a London-based organization  supporting the cause of
>> struggling indigenous people, estimates that at least  100 similarly isolated
>> tribes remain in the world, about half of them in  Brazil and Peru.
>>  
>>  
>>  
>> Š
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
> 


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20080608/2b2b4be0/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: missionary vs anthropologist.JPG
Type: application/applefile
Size: 9336 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20080608/2b2b4be0/attachment.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: missionary vs anthropologist.JPG
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 46220 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20080608/2b2b4be0/attachment.jpe>