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[argon]

Has anyone seen "Going Tribal" on Discovery Channel? Basically it follows around the host, Bruce Perry, as he lives with some of the most remote tribes in the world, and immerses himself in almost every aspect of their lives. For the period of his stay, he sleeps where they sleep, hunts with them, and takes part in all of their rituals (the ones they allow him to participate in).

So far I've seen two episodes..

In one episode, he travels to the jungles of Papua and lives with a remote band of tribesmen rumored to be cannibals. This one so far has been my favorite, because he forms a close, humorous friendship with his host family.

In last night's episode he traveled to Gabon, Africa, and spent a month hunting with the Bwiti people. He lives with them for about a month and finally earns their trust enough to participate in their initiation ceremony, which entails taking a massive overdose of a hallucinogenic drug which is said to bring back painful childhood memories.

At first I thought the show was a shameless display of commercialization and "extreme" reality TV, but he really seems respectful to their culture and belief systems. Also, this show shatters some myths about the hunter-gatherer society with respect to modern life. For instance, the day to day life of some tribes are rather idyllic. In areas where food is plentiful, they can afford to spend much of their day in leisure, singing, telling stories, and enjoying life.

All in all, its a fascinating show.

 

[ChennehCis]

Most definitely, although the commercials leading up to the Bwiti show were a little more dramatic than the actual show. But yeah, definitely respectful of the native culture and his speaking of the "trance" experience was pretty interesting.

I think it's kinda sad that the chief leader's son, was supposed to take over because his father died but he didn't want to. Instead he wanted to work at a mill or something, and it sort of foreshadows "assimilation" and gradual loss of culture in the future.

I also watched the previous Mongolian one which involved a trek across a mountain. He engaged in events like wrestling in which he gets owned, and horseback riding, which he has never done, and I think when he got off his horse, it ran away, creating a very embarassing situation for Perry.

Overall definitely one of the better shows on the Discovery Channel.

 

[pj]

I love that show. It's really interesting to see people whose most advanced piece of technology is a machete

 

[argon]

I think it's kinda sad that the chief leader's son, was supposed to take over because his father died but he didn't want to. Instead he wanted to work at a mill or something, and it sort of foreshadows "assimilation" and gradual loss of culture in the future.

Yeah, that was sad.. but they did mention that the future of their people may be in forest conservation (working as park rangers). I think this might be a good way to integrate with the outside world but also preserve their culture and ideals.