杏吧原创

The TV show Tribe, or Going Tribal, is watched by millions worldwide. Rapt viewers know the score: ex-marine tough guy Bruce Parry meets tribe, struggles for acceptance, hunts, makes friends, waves tearful farewell. The only people, it seems, who don鈥檛 rave about the show are anthropologists, some of whom dismiss it as exoticism or exploitation. But would the rest of us have known about these vanishing tribes without Parry? Could living with so many of them give him a perspective denied to anthropologists and ecotourists? Can we learn something new about being human? Lucy Middleton hunted him down.

Why do we need to know about tribal people?

These cultures are in a massive state of flux and many are under threat. We need to realise the impact we have on others. Take sustainability. What we buy comes from so far away that we have no idea what consumerism is doing to the rest of the world. I鈥檝e just got back from living with the Penan people of Sarawak, Malaysia, who are losing their lives, livelihoods and their forests because of the outside world buying hardwoods. Forget demonising the loggers, we are the reason these things are happening. I also think tribal people are incredibly important to us as a global society, because we鈥檙e a homogenising roller coaster of capitalism that鈥檚 sweeping the world 鈥� and it鈥檚 a one-way train. Learning about a different culture is like having a mirror on our society 鈥� we can see there are other people doing life differently.

What was one of the biggest things you learned?

About conflict. I stayed with some people in south-west Ethiopia called the Suri, the stick-fighters, and they told me about their sworn enemy, the Nyangatom. They were riddled with this self-perpetuating hatred 鈥� which is true for all of us. There are many layers to all wars. I鈥檓 not suggesting they are black and white, but I stayed with the Nyangatom and guess what? They were lovely people too. They were indoctrinated against each other for no reason other than that鈥檚 the way it has been for a long time. I heard the leaders of both tribes geeing people up and preying on their emotions, talking about those who have been lost in battle, about how they must stay together and fight for the memory of lost ancestors. Look at Northern Ireland, where people talk about their lost relatives 鈥� leaders there also use emotion to perpetuate the conflict. It鈥檚 just propaganda.

You talk like a pacifist, but you were a marine鈥�

Yes, the experience of living with tribes has brought me closer to being a pacifist than ever before. Until people forget the past and act with their minds rather than their emotions, conflict will never end. It鈥檚 all about cultural interaction, realising that people aren鈥檛 what they have always been made out to be. And there are ways of trying to end conflict, such as creating a school and sending all the kids to it so they mix. If people are left festering and their leaders perpetuating the myths of hatred, it鈥檚 never going to end. The head is a more important tool than the heart.

So the roots of conflict are always the same?

Regardless of how or where our cultures have been shaped by history, geography, politics and so on, deep down we鈥檙e more similar than you would think. We all have the same motivations 鈥� to propagate and to survive. Survival can manifest itself in aggression towards other people because they鈥檙e taking that ability to survive away from you. Peoples who don鈥檛 need to worry so much about survival look to something larger, better, to doing good. We鈥檙e all going about these things in our own different environments.

You鈥檝e been dubbed by some as an anthropologist. Is that how you see yourself?

Absolutely not. I鈥檓 not an academic and don鈥檛 pretend to be. I have an inquisitive mind and love to analyse, but that鈥檚 it. I know that there are some anthropologists who are a little upset with what I鈥檓 doing and I was very worried before the first series came out, but now I hold my head high. I鈥檓 not claiming to know or understand everything about these people. What we鈥檙e trying to do is overturn preconceptions about indigenous people. I鈥檓 not preaching to the converted, but to people who normally watch Big Brother. I鈥檓 really glad to be part of something that has changed the way that whole nations look at other people. I鈥檓 just a middleman. By trying to break down the barriers between the presenter and the people, and experiencing the lives of tribal people, I want to popularise what the real anthropologists are doing.

Who made the greatest impression on you?

A lady called Abanesh from the Dassanech tribe in Ethiopia鈥檚 Omo valley. She was an incredibly charismatic, wonderful, intelligent person, who believes in female circumcision. It would be very easy just to hate her because of her belief, but it鈥檚 about tolerance and understanding, and not about telling people what to think, which is what western culture tends to do.

Look at what鈥檚 going on in the Middle East: it doesn鈥檛 work, it鈥檚 wrong and it needs to be done differently. I鈥檓 no politician but from my experiences of interactions with other communities I know that persuasion works and dominance doesn鈥檛. You can鈥檛 judge other cultures. How dare we? Our culture is the one that is trashing the world, not theirs. It鈥檚 all about power and economics.

Were you ever scared?

Only when I had to jump over a line of cattle as part of a ritual. I was naked, covered in cow shit and about to humiliate myself in front of the tribe and the whole world. At the thought of jumping over a bunch of cattle naked, I nearly shat my pants. I鈥檓 more frightened of ridicule than danger.

Do you ever get ill?

I eat the food and drink the water of the people I stay with 鈥� and on every shoot there was a day when I was violently ill. I had a check-up recently, though, and got the all-clear. Before Tribe I had loads of diseases, including malaria many times, salmonella and dengue fever.

What鈥檚 the most difficult fallout from doing Tribe?

My life is mad fast: I haven鈥檛 put my feet up or watched TV in years. I鈥檝e got to put the brakes on. I鈥檓 fundamentally lonely all the time. I don鈥檛 mean that to sound like a plea, of course not, but always being away is hard. My life is completely arse-about-face.

Why can鈥檛 you just stop?

I am horribly addicted to stimulation, whether it鈥檚 physical, emotional, visual. Every month I鈥檓 in a different place with different people in a different environment. If I sit down for more than a minute with nothing to do, I鈥檓 frustrated and start dancing around the room. It鈥檚 the result of having been to so many places: it鈥檚 wonderful, but I need to wean myself off otherwise I won鈥檛 be any use to anyone in the future.

鈥淚鈥檓 horribly addicted to stimulation 鈥� physical, emotional, visual鈥�

Any one moment that stands out above all others?

Picture this: it was my first morning in Siberia with the Nenets. It was -30 掳C and I was sitting in a big fur coat with sleighs snaking behind me in the snow for a full 10 kilometres. Seven thousand reindeer with frosty antlers were kicking up tiny dust-like particles of snow, their sweat crystallising and slowly drifting in the slight breeze, against a bright red sky. I鈥檝e never seen anything like it. I thought if I was with my girlfriend now I would propose. The irony was that I didn鈥檛 have a girlfriend!

Do you have any advice for the rest of us?

Question your preconceptions. Any negative view you have, try and figure out where it has come from. That鈥檚 it.