Tribe Man Meets Modern Tribe Man for the First Time

Jean Pierre's Encounter With a Tribe Man

Tribe Man Meets Modern Tribe Man for the First Time

The footage titled "Tribe Man Meets Modern Tribe Man For the First Time" is an anthropological fieldwork that supposedly was recorded in 1976, by Jean Pier Dutilleux and his cameraman Philip in the deep forests of New Guinea. The footage begins with displaying the Toulambi tribe's first encounter with a modern man, who in this case is white. After a hard time, faced to be an target for an arrow, JP (Jean Pier) succeeds to gain their trust, and takes them the next day to his nearby camp where he shows them his tools and shares his food. The tribe returns the favour next day by taking JP to their dwelling place. Here they show him their way of life. After merely 5 days after the first encounter JP has to depart to the city, and the tribe sings him farewell.

I would like to begin with criticising his statement that the tribe sees him as a ghost. JP has clearly interpreted their behaviours by his own cultural traits. The assumption obviously convey the impression that the concept of ghost is universal, which is not the case. They may have thought of him to be a hallucination, a shaman in a cloak, or even -as he later remarks- painted. In fact Laura Bohannan's "Shakespear in the Bush" tells us not only that the West African tribe she went to didn't have such a concept as a ghost, but also that they could not comprehend how it can be.

The same goes for his act of showing his peaceful intentions to the tribesmen at the stream. JP states that straightening a right arm forward with a open hand is a peaceful act, because it is the weapon hand and this showing it is non-equipped is peaceful. That might be the case for the western world, but not necessarily for the Toulambi tribe, it could be a gesture of disrespect or challenge.

The last point of criticism is the notion of developmentalism and a possible superior feeling throughout the footage (This of course was the notion of the time). The first time we encounter this notion is when JP states "[Maybe this tribe] are the living answers of we who have learned to fly without wings, talk with the stars and destroy our own planet" (10:15-10:35). Obviously JP perceives the modern human superior due to material improvements as technology and science, instead of moral values and human thought. The notion of simple technology equals simple mind can be felt throughout the footage.

JP's time with the tribesmen is rather short and the data he has been able to collect, should not be regarded as a fieldwork, but a set of notes. A fieldwork would require a much longer stay along with socialising with the tribe. Moreover an intensive involvement with the tripe would be necessary, for a more accurate understanding of their way of life.

In the footage