Value of No Contact

I love to read the BBC news in the morning, because it is the least biased news source that I have been able to find. They also have the most interesting information on obscure events. There was an incredible article/video clip that was posted. There is a tribe in the Amazon that has not yet had outside contact with Europeans or North Americans. Their only contact has been other tribes who they have traded with. The continued existence of this tribe is something that is of great concern for sociologists and cultural anthropologists. As the rain forests continue to disappear because of the need of giant corporations, this tribe lives a precarious existence of non-contact with the outside world.

This tribe is made more interesting in the context of how the negative effects of colonialism are now being recognized. Both Canada and Australia have now acknowledged the pain and suffering that their past policies have caused. It is now being recognized how much knowledge we have lost because we did not respect the veracity of other cultures and felt that only one culture was capable of holding the truth. The effects of colonization are still be dealt with in many communities, as well as the imposition of education. While education is considered a good thing, manner of education is also considered very important in this time.

This act of deliberate preservation of an ancient culture and community is an amazing shift away from the ethnocentrism of the past. It recognizes that there is no one culture that is superior. Although this culture may be considered primitive, their continued life away from outside influences is amazing. We could learn much from this tribe, but to do so would require contact. At this point in time, there seem to be only two opposing option, preservation or contact. Preventing contact will allow these people to preserve their culture and their livelihood.

Perhaps this is what reconciliation really means, in a global sense. To prevent this from ever happening again. How we deal with the past is just as important as we choose to live the future.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/world-latin-america-12360013