Uncontacted

The above photograph probably fascinated me the most of anything that I read about in this week's news cycle. It is a picture taken of a uncontacted tribe in the Amazon jungle on the border or Brazil and Peru shooting flaming arrows at the helicopter over head.

For some reason, it is comforting to know that there are still elements of the unknown in the world, as we seemingly begin to crack scientific mystery after scientific mystery. This tribe is but one of a dozen uncontacted peoples still living throughout the world. The majority are found in the Amazon jungle and in West Papua in New Guinea.

The Sentinelese in the Andaman Islands are among the most famous. They were feared to have been wiped out in the 2004 tsunami, but survived. In 2006, two local drunk fishermen apparently went to close to the Sentinelese camp, and were killed by bow and arrows. When rescuers tried to recover the bodies with a helicopter, the Sneinelese drove the rescue party away, and the two bodies remain unrecovered.

There is something utterly fascinating about coming into contact with a culture that has no interaction with Western society. Indeed, some exotic travel groups are now charging prices like $8,000 took into area like West Papua to try and find these lost tribes.

The BBC made a documentary called "First Contact" that goes with one of these companies to try and meet these people living beyond the reaches of civilization. Many anthropologists have strong objections to tourists treking through the jungle to find these people who for the most part, seem to want to remain isolated.

They hold that it should be on the lost tribes terms when they went to make contact with the rest of the world, and that it should be done slowly and carefully. An argument is put forward that as people in the West, we are simply bored, and need to keep challenging ourselves with increasingly new exotically dangerous adventures. The thrill of bungee jumping wears off, and backpacking through Thailand, so now we must go 10 days into the jungle to find these people with the chance that maybe we will get killed by an arrow.

I must say, the temptation is luring, and is something I know I would love to do.

The tourist companies claim, though, that if it is someone's desire to go out and interact with these people, who are anthrolologists to intervene. They claim that the tribes first interactions are going to be with either missionaries, miners, or tourists. So it is inherently better for people who merely want to take photographs rather than their souls or resources.

The whole issue leaves me very tied. Several posts ago, I wrote about trying to find what my new adventure would be. For some reason, this is grabbing ahold of me. An incredible adventure in which civilizations are come into contact for the first time. As the world shrinks, it seems rare taht there are still places in the world not yet explored by the West. Thee final frontiers are ending.

Stephen Hawking recently came out saying that every government should invest 0.25% of its GDP toward looking to explore and colonize space. The new exploratory landscapes looms as there are only a few places left on the planet to have the haze removed.

At the same time, though, from a cultural standpoint, who am I or anyone else to step into these peoples' homes because I have a curiosity. Indeed, it is the fascination with associating with a people who are so removed and the complete idea of the other.