RE: Re: travel channel examines primitive cul tures

[Guest guest]

Shari wrote:

> , could you give a summary of the show for those

> of us not fortunate enough to have that station? Thanks

Well, I'll try, but I didn't really watch it as critically as I would have

liked to for giving a report about it. There were actually two or three

shows in a row that each dealt with different tribes. I only watched

portions of two of them, because I was doing other things at the same time.

The first one that I watched was about the Dinka tribe which is in Sudan if

I remember correctly. Their environment is a harsh one that endures annual

wet seasons and annual severe drought with high temperatures. They are a

dairy culture. They are pretty heavily male-dominated. Much of the work is

done by the women and children. The primary product of the cattle is the

milk. The meat is seen as a by-product of milk production. I have no idea

what kind of cattle they used, but they clearly belonged to bos indicus

(like brahman) not bos tarus (like almost all american and european breeds).

I was struck by the fact that despite their isolation (clearly lacking

dentists, personal trainers, or nutritionists) they were indeed unusually

healthy. Some had poor teeth and bone structure, but the majority of

non-elderly people had markedly straight white teeth, clear skin, and high

cheekbones. They were tall, thin and muscular.

There were two noteworthy things though. One scene showed a young girl

rubbing her teeth with a piece of wood while she walked. I take that to

mean that their dental health doesn't just spontaneously happen. They do

employ some degree of traditional hygiene to maintain their teeth. The

other thing was that there appeared to be very few older people, and it was

very difficult to determine the age of the elders who were shown. I wish

they had told us the ages or approximate ages of these elders.

I didn't catch much of the show about the second group. I don't even know

the name of their tribe. Maybe someone can fill in some blanks? The second

group was in ethiopia and also kept cattle. They had goats as well, which I

did not see with the Dinka. This tribe was not as male dominated. They had

complex aesthetic traditions (meticulous hair-styles and dyes, jewelry, body

paints, etc). Courtship was often initiated by the women. They too

appeared to be healthier than most westerners, but again I did not see many

older people.

I would say that I saw some validations of Price's studies, but without

somebody tracking and sharing information that was not given through these

shows, it's impossible to know many important things. Why were there so few

older people? Do they die young of disease, accidents, or degenerative

issues? Were they simply not the focus of the show and therefore not shown

even though they were there somewhere? If they are alive, what is their

condition?

They also didn't really focus on what exactly is the diet of these people.

We know that animal products were significant, but without knowing the

details, I'd be pretty reluctant to draw significant conclusions from the

Price/NT standpoint.

There is one conclusion that I did draw from it: I would love to visit those

tribes for a month or six. THAT's what an exchange program should be like.

REAL differences in culture. I was an exchange student to Germany in High

School. That's not really such a different culture. It's differences are

more a matter of degree and shade; we share primary religious traditions,

root languages, history, political traditions, predominant skin color,

social value systems, gender roles, etc. We share very little with these

tribes other than those things which are central to most humans. The

details are almost all different which serves to highlight the few things

that are shared in common including family, friends, work, love and death.

Who needs Time Machines or Millenium Falcons to travel to faraway places and

see strange cultures? A plane ticket, a translator, and a few calves to

give as gifts would probably serve about as well.

[Guest guest]

At 10:40 AM 3/13/2002 -0600, you wrote:

>Why were there so few

>older people? Do they die young of disease, accidents, or degenerative

>issues?

I saw a portion of one of the shows and I was a little stunned to hear that

in the previous year a large number of members died in battles with other

nearby tribes. Their political solution to this was to marry into the

other tribe so they could then be at peace instead of being at

war. Perhaps this continuing warring might have contributed to so few elders.

-=mark=-

[Guest guest]

> I wonder what sports

> are popular among the various african tribes?

Well, stick fighting and stylized jumping competitions were a couple of the

activities profiled in the groups last night.

[Guest guest]

> Perhaps this continuing warring might have contributed to so few elders.

Yes, and in the case of the Dinka, some of the men were routinely eating

themselves to death. They had a competition where several of the men in the

community would spend 4 months not working and eating as much as they could

to become the fattest man in the community. Their muscles atrophy so that

they can barely walk (by their standards; by ours they're probably still

practicaly athletes). One of the men participating in the contest during

the taping of the show, actually did die of a burst stomach and won the

contest posthumously. He was the hero of the contest, but I'm guessing

that's not a particularly " Nourishing Tradition. " The contest is so old

that they don't remember anymore why it began...

Amazingly, the men all lose the weight well before the next year's

competition.

[Guest guest]

This fattening was done with milk. Wasn't there mention of raw milk fasting

for

4 days here recently? Brought to mind too from Lights Out, a book I just read

about our cave dwelling ancestors fattening up before winter and short days.

Could be some form of ancestral honoring. Don't remember them mentioning the

time of year but it may coincide to fall and shorter days. If they were

fattening on carbs it would be harder to lose without the hibernation. Even

southern latitudes have a down time of year when there is not much food

harvestable so there is less work.

Wanita

At 11:38 AM 3/13/02 -0600, wrote:

>Yes, and in the case of the Dinka, some of the men were routinely eating

>themselves to death.  They had a competition where several of the men in the

>community would spend 4 months not working and eating as much as they could

>to become the fattest man in the community. 

>Amazingly, the men all lose the weight well before the next year's

>competition.