Anthropology: First Contact
September 3, 2007
Original image – http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=272951311&size=o
First contact between human cultures today is not something that has been widely experienced by many people in the last decade. The idea that humans in remote areas of the planet have never crossed paths with people from outside cultures seems to be a thing of the past.
An expedition company based in West Papua is currently advertising expeditions which promise ‘first contact’ with tribes in that area (http://www.papua-adventures.com/first-contact.html)
To many people, myself included, this appears to be a once in a lifetime opportunity.
But – in reality is the idea of a commercial ‘first contact’ moraly acceptable?
History has shown us that ‘first contact’ has never truly benefited the ‘discovered’ cultures any great deal – disease, slavery, exploitation and and the loss of cultural identity seem to follow these encounters. Personaly I have seen first hand the effects western cultures have had on the native people of Malaysian Borneo – palm oil plantations that stretch accross the horizon and the poverty in cities and in remote rural settlements. One lasting memory I have is from the month I spent at the kampong Linapasan, out of around the 50 or so inhabitants of the kampong, the demography seemed to be mainly young children and older adults – the lure of the bigger town’s and cities, and in essence western culture appears more attractive than the sustenance approach to life.
So , in this age of accesible global travel and disposable wealth, I have to ask myself – is it right?
The answer is clear – no. The idea that anyone can pay to represent a whole culture and make ‘first contact’ seems incredibly unwise, if a culture has avoided contact it seems correct that it should not be forced upon them. It selfish, in the sense that this sort of experience can bought like any other commercial transaction. I say leave it to the experts…
