50 fascinating info from Indigenous and tribal peoples from around the globe


Survival Worldwide was based in 1969 to battle alongside Indigenous and tribal peoples to defend their lives and lands. There’s nothing “primitive” about them, they simply stay in another way. Tribal societies are terribly various and there’s rather a lot to be taught from them.

To have fun half a century of worldwide solidarity, listed below are 50 info for 50 years…

 Tribal societies put the group earlier than the person, sharing and exchanging possessions quite than amassing private wealth
  1. Cash isn’t the important thing to happiness. A gaggle of Maasai folks from east Africa had been discovered to have an analogous life satisfaction ranking to these on the Forbes 400 richest People checklist.
  2. Hunter-gatherer tribes spend far much less time working than we do. The Cuiva folks of Colombia and Venezuela “work” for less than 15-20 hours every week and spend many hours every day of their hammocks, made further massive in order that spouses and youngsters can all get in collectively. 
  3. Peace comes from dismissing ideas of possession, competitors, self-importance and greed, in keeping with the Piaroa folks of Venezuela. They disavow violence, maintain women and men to be of equal standing, and by no means bodily punish youngsters. 
  4. The Hadza folks of Tanzania worth equality extremely and don’t have any official leaders. For them it’s a ethical obligation to offer what you will have with out expectation of return. If in case you have extra private possessions than you will have instant use for, it is best to share them.
  5. Yanomami hunters by no means eat their very own catch. They provide it away to others earlier than they even deliver it house. In flip, they solely eat what the opposite hunters have given to them. Everybody eats one thing offered by another person, fostering group spirit and cohesion.
    Tribal societies possess an unparalleled understanding of a few of the world’s most unusual animals and ecosystems.
  6. Tribal peoples have distinctive relationships with animals. The Baka folks of central Africa have greater than 15 completely different phrases for “elephant” relying on the animal’s age, intercourse and temperament, and imagine their ancestors stroll with the animals by the forest.
    A Baka lady in Republic of Congo © Survival
  7. Proof exhibits that the perfect barrier to deforestation within the Amazon is defending the territories of uncontacted tribes. There are round 100 uncontacted tribes dwelling on this rainforest and, as hunter-gatherers, they’re uniquely in tune with their atmosphere and have huge botanical and zoological experience. 
  8. Once they harvest honey from excessive within the timber, the Soliga folks take some for themselves and depart some close to the bottom for tigers, who they think about household, as a result of tigers can’t climb the timber and harvest honey for themselves.
  9. When a toddler is born to the Orang Rimba tribe of Indonesia, the umbilical twine is planted below a Sentubung tree. The kid has a sacred bond with that tree for the remainder of their life, and for the Orang Rimba, chopping down a “start tree” is equal to homicide.

    Click on right here to assist tribal and Indigenous peoples in conservation

  10. To plow land is to “scratch the breast” of Mom Earth, say India’s Baiga folks, believing God created the forests to offer all the pieces people want and gave the Baiga knowledge to search out it. Solely those who God didn’t give this information to should farm to outlive.
  11. India’s Niyamgiri Hills take in the monsoon’s rain, giving rise to greater than 100 perennial streams and rivers, together with the Vamshadhara river. The Dongria Kondh tribe who inhabit this lush panorama name themselves “Jharnia”, which means Protector of Streams.
    © Jason Taylor/Survival
  12. In contrast to us, the Arhuaco folks of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada take nice duty for the wellbeing of the planet, seeing it as their job to maintain Mom Earth in concord. They see droughts and famines as a consequence of human failure to maintain the world in steadiness.
    Many tribal societies embrace gender equality; they present us that our society’s gender norms should not “pure” however culturally particular
  13. Girls had been historically the principle breadwinners among the many Chambri folks of Papua New Guinea. They did all of the fishing and took the additional fish they caught out into the encompassing hills to commerce with different tribes. Neither intercourse is seen as dominant in Chambri life.
  14. Bayaka fathers spend roughly half the day close to their infants. They even provide them a nipple to suck if the kid is crying, and the mom or one other lady isn’t out there. It’s not unusual to wake within the night time and listen to a father singing to his baby.
  15. Monogamy isn’t a common human trait. The Zo’é folks of the Amazon are polygamous, each women and men might have multiple accomplice. Everyone seems to be equal in Zo’é society and historically there have been no leaders. All put on the ‘m’berpót’ – a protracted picket lip plug.
    A Zo’é household relaxes in a hammock they constructed from Brazil nut fibres. © Fiona Watson/Survival
  16. Many Native American societies historically recognised three genders. The third gender, “Two Spirit”, was seen as blessed; possessing distinctive perception due to their understanding of each masculine and female views. 
  17. Girls in industrial societies are nonetheless preventing for equality, however equal standing of the sexes is regular for a lot of hunter-gathers, just like the Awá tribe within the Brazilian Amazon. Awá ladies take part in looking journeys and may even take a number of husbands.

     Click on right here to assist Brazil’s tribal and Indigenous peoples

  18. The extent of energy and independence loved by the Innu ladies of Canada scandalized Catholic missionaries, who, up till the mid twentieth century, tried to impose European requirements, and make Innu ladies subservient to their husbands.
  19. Not everybody considers ladies’s breasts to be indecent; for a lot of tribes they’re unremarkable, and different physique components could also be taboo as an alternative. Emberá ladies in Colombia might go topless, however they need to at all times cowl the perimeters of their thighs. 
  20. The Wodaabe folks in northern Niger maintain a male magnificence contest yearly on the finish of the wet season. Younger males put on make-up, jewellery and their greatest garments and line as much as compete for the eye of the ladies.
    Tribal societies have developed extraordinary experience and distinctive applied sciences to stay sustainably in a few of the most difficult environments on the planet
  21. Many tribes around the globe, just like the Penan folks of Sarawak, use intelligent chemistry to fish sustainably. They use toxins from vegetation to stun fish, which then float to the floor. Folks can take solely what they want and permit the smaller fish to get better and swim away so fish shares aren’t depleted.
  22. Particular honeycomb is used to make casts for damaged limbs by the Chenchu folks of south-east India. Additionally they say they by no means acquire honey through the rains, as a result of the bees will discover it tough to arrange a brand new house whereas the rocks are slippery.
    Chenchu have a reciprocal relationship with the forest, primarily based on the respect for cycles of the character and within the duty for the long run generations. Their customs dictate that they need to by no means take greater than they want or waste something. © Survival
  23. Sirius is the brightest star within the sky and has a hidden accomplice. Sirius B is invisible to the bare eye and was solely found by Western scientists within the nineteenth century. Nevertheless it has been reported that the Dogon folks of Mali might have identified concerning the star earlier than and understood its 50 yr orbital interval.
  24. Himba ladies of of Namibia and Angola cowl themselves with otjize paste, a combination of fats and ochre, cleaning to the pores and skin and hair with out water. Otjize additionally protects towards the solar and mosquito bites, however the ladies say they simply put on it to look good! 
  25. A moon halo – a vibrant ring seen across the moon when there are ice crystals within the air – was utilized by Indigenous peoples throughout Australia as a climate predictor. Australia was as soon as populated by as much as 1,000,000 individuals who spoke over 250 languages. 
  26. The spectacular Baliem Valley in West Papua is house to the Dani folks, who’re mentioned to have developed agriculture no less than 9,000 years in the past, most likely far upfront of Europe. 
  27. The Guugu Ymithirr folks of Australia historically had no phrases for left and proper and solely used North, South, East and West for course. They oriented themselves instinctively, ready to make use of every compass level precisely relative to the place they had been standing. 

    Click on right here to assist Indigenous languages thrive

  28. The Jumma peoples of Bangladesh enable their valuable land to get better by ‘shifting cultivation’; rising meals in small components of their territory, earlier than shifting on to a different space. They put a mixture of seeds in every gap for various crops in several seasons.
    Marma mom and son sitting exterior their house. Within the final 60 years, the Jumma tribes have gone from being virtually the only real inhabitants of the Chittagong Hill Tracts to being nearly outnumbered by settlers. © Mark McEvoy/Survival
  29. As a type of contraception, males from some tribes in West Papua have historically drunk a tea constructed from a plant known as Gendarussa. Scientists are investigating whether or not the plant may present the premise for a contraceptive capsule for males. 
  30. Malaria is without doubt one of the world’s most dangerous illnesses. Quinine, constructed from the bark of Cinchona timber, has been important within the battle towards it and was first used medicinally by Indigenous peoples just like the Quechua of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador as a muscle relaxant.
  31. Their understanding of their atmosphere and talent to interpret pure phenomena saved the tribal peoples of the Andaman Islands from the devastation of the 2004 Asian Tsunami. There have been over 200,000 deaths on account of the tsunami, however no tribal folks died.
    They present us that the vary of human capability, notion, and expertise is a lot broader than what exists in our society
  32. The Shipibo folks of the Peruvian Amazon make intricate geometric artwork that may be learn as music. The folks can “hear” the tune by wanting on the patterns, like sheet music. The patterns characterize chants and songs related to Ayahasca therapeutic ceremonies. 
  33. The ocean-faring Bajau folks of Malaysia can maintain their breath for as much as 3 minutes and free-dive as much as 20 meters. Scientists discovered that the Bajau are submerged for as much as 60% of the time they spend within the water, which is sort of so long as a sea-otter. 
  34. English is probably not such a tough language to be taught, it solely makes use of round 42 completely different sounds. ǃXóõ, a language spoken by ‘Bushman’ tribes within the Kalahari Desert, has over 160. This consists of 5 completely different “click on” sounds initially discovered solely in Bushman languages.
    Botswana Bushmen, Kalahari, Kua tribe © Forest Woodward / Survival, 2015
  35. Many tribes use naturally-occurring psychoactive substances to sharpen their talents, each mentally and bodily. Matsés women and men typically use frog poison earlier than looking journeys to supply a sense of readability, imaginative and prescient and energy that may final for a number of days.
  36. In a harsh sub-polar local weather with temperatures round freezing, the previous Indigenous inhabitants of Tierra Del Fuego on the southernmost tip of Argentina may typically go with out garments, slept exterior, and swam in water chilly sufficient to kill Europeans.
  37. The long run is behind you and the previous in entrance of you, in keeping with Aymara folks of the Andes. You’ll be able to “see” the previous, however you can’t see the long run. The Aymara phrase for previous actually means eye, sight or entrance, and the phrase for future means “behind” or “the again.” 
  38. Are you at your psychological peak at midnight? Sleeping all night time simply isn’t how everybody does it. The Pirahã folks of Amazonas don’t simply go out for 8 hours at 11pm, they take naps at any time all through the day or night time. 
  39. The Rarámuri folks of Mexico developed a practice of long-distance working, as much as 200 miles at a time, for inter-village communication, transportation, and looking. They stay in difficult mountainous terrain with massive distances between settlements.
  40. The Guarani language has two completely different phrases for “we”. One “we” consists of the folks you’re speaking to, a bit like saying “me and also you”. The opposite, you utilize to speak a couple of group of people who find themselves not current, type of like “me and them” 
    The Guarani use urucum dye of the annatto shrub to color their faces and our bodies throughout festivities, Brazil. © Fiona Watson/Survival
  41. The Moken folks of the Andaman Sea have outstanding visible expertise. Their aquatic existence imply they’ve developed the distinctive capability to focus below water in an effort to dive for meals on the ocean ground. Their sight is 50% extra acute than Europeans’
  42. Have you ever ever been so excited to see somebody, you retain going exterior to test in the event that they’ve arrived but? The Inuktitut language of the Inuit has a phrase for that: “Iktsuarpok”, pronounced eekt-soo-ahh-pohk. 
    Tribal and Indigenous societies are a significant a part of human range
  43. Probably the most various place on Earth is the island of New Guinea, inhabited by round 1,000 or so completely different tribes. Although solely about 0.1% of the world’s inhabitants lives right here, it’s the house of roughly one seventh of the world’s 7,000 languages. 
  44. There are 100 or so uncontacted tribes in South America and all of them stay within the Amazon… besides one. The Totobiegosode of Paraguay are a sub-group of the Ayoreo folks and a few of them have chosen to reject interplay with mainstream society. 

    Click on right here to assist uncontacted tribes’ proper to stay as they wish to

  45. Uncontacted tribes don’t essentially need “our” lifestyle. In 2014, three uncontacted Awá folks left the forest to have interaction with mainstream society. Unimpressed, two of them later returned to their forest, masking their tracks so they may not be adopted. 
  46. Colombia’s most not too long ago contacted tribe, the Nukak, historically used piranha enamel to chop their hair. The tribe had been uncontacted till 1988, once they turned up unexpectedly in a newly-established city contained in the Nukak’s territory.
    © Survival Worldwide
  47. Do you discuss to your pets? The Bodi folks of Ethiopia sing particular poems to their favourite cows. The tribe are agro-pastoralists, whose livelihoods and tradition revolve round their cattle.
  48. The Sentinelese folks have probably been nearly solely remoted on their island for a lot of centuries. Their nearest neighbors, the Jarawa, can’t perceive the Sentinelese language, indicating these associated teams will need to have been separated for tons of of years. 
  49. The Enawene Nawe tribe of Brazil apply one of many longest ritual celebrations on Earth, lasting over 4 months. They construct intricate picket dams throughout rivers to catch fish migrating from their spawning grounds. After the ritual ends, the dams are destroyed.
  50. So far as we all know, the ancestors of at present’s ‘Bushman’ tribes in southern Africa had been within the area tens of 1000’s of years earlier than anybody else. They’ve most likely lived on their lands longer than anybody else has lived anyplace.

The world wants tribal societies and our work helps to stop their annihilation by the dominant society. We work in partnership with tribes and provides them a platform to talk to the world, however we’d like your assist to result in radical change.

 

Be a part of us now: For tribes, for nature, for all humanity

Doug

Doug

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