Hilarious article on Sentinelese in today's Guardian

by LoveUniHateExams 6 Replies latest social current

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  LoveUniHateExams

  I say 'hilarious' because it shows The Guardian's ridiculous bias.

  This article is dripping with Noble Savage Hippy-ness.

  Nearly all contact with outsiders have been violent.

  Here's an excerpt about one of the two 1991 visits that were non-violent: “They are a peace-loving people,” TN Pandit, an anthropologist who conducted one of the first successful meetings with the tribe in 1991, told an Indian news outlet this week.

  and here's what Wikipedia has to say about it: 'On later visits, Pandit's boats were confronted by Sentinelese who turned their backs, which Pandit took as a sign their visit was not welcome; but they were able to leave gifts, which islanders came to take. He observed that the men carried bows and arrows, but the women did not. On one visit in 1991 the islanders took coconuts from the hands of Pandit's party, but would not allow them to enter the island'

  Something that the Guardian journalist neglects to mention was the fact that during this 'peaceful' visit, the gift of coconuts was accepted but the anthropologists were still not allowed onto the island. It is believed that the Sentinelese were non-violent on this occasion because one of the anthropologists was female.

  As already mentioned all other meetings with outsiders have been violent.

  And yet the Guardian writer is still trying to spin it that the Sentinelese are peace-loving, quoting anthroplogists who maintain that the Sentinelese act violently because they are suspicious of outsiders, and that the Sentinelese are suspicious of outsiders because, centuries ago, Burmese slave-traders raided the Andaman islands. Now, there may be some truth in the anthroplogists' guesses but you cannot say from this that the Sentinelese are a peace loving people.

  Anthropologists know literally nothing about these people.

  Away from the outside world on the privacy of their island, it's possible they could be peaceful. It's also possible - and perhaps more likely, given the tribal nature of humans - that they're divided along tribal lines and fight each other.

  This article seems to be soaked in the noble savage myth/bullshit, as if they're peaceful natives living in a tropical paradise. Life without modern medicine and convenience stores and supermarkets is very hard - these natives ain't chilling on a beach with cans of Lilt and Bounty chocolate bars. XD

  https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/nov/30/sentinelese-tribe-who-killed-american-are-peace-loving-say-anthropologists

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentinelese
  
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  Simon

  An interesting snippet I learned recently was that the term "Noble Savage" didn't refer to character traits or any sense of ethics but just means "hunts freely". When the term was coined, only Nobles had the right to hunt deer etc. anywhere in the UK so a more accurate term in todays language would be "Savage Hunter".

  Changes the meaning somewhat ...
• 

  Xanthippe

  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_savage

  This is the view I was taught at university, that noble savage was the romanticised view in the 18th and 19th centuries of indigenous peoples. That it refered to American Indians etc., the sentimentalised view that before civilisation man was intrinsically good and the industrial revolution and progress took man away from the earth and corrupted him.
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  LoveUniHateExams

  This is the view I was taught at university, that noble savage was the romanticised view in the 18th and 19th centuries of indigenous peoples. That it refered to American Indians etc., the sentimentalised view that before civilisation man was intrinsically good and the industrial revolution and progress took man away from the earth and corrupted him - OK.

  And this was the way my OP used the term.

  Simon's point is quite correct but the term 'Noble Savage' still has its outdated meaning.

  There were certainly some negative impacts upon indigenous people,

  But Western cultures were and are highly advanced, and if isolated Stone Age tribes are to survive, then they need the help of the outside world.

  We don't know how many Sentinelese currently exist - estimates range from fifty to five hundred individuals.

  Western medicine is tried and tested, and will surely be needed in future to help these people.
  
  
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  Simon

  Yes, "romanticized" is a good word. There seems to be some belief that if someone is a native they are inherently good, at one with nature etc... which is all complete bollocks.

  Many butchered each other and didn't put effort into managing the land at all, they just never built enough of a population (due to lack of invention) to have any reason not to just move on and pick a new spot.

  The big threat to the Sentinelese is likely disease and viruses - if they have been so isolated some numpty showing up for a photo op could decimate them.
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  jwleaks

  Simon: The big threat to the Sentinelese is likely disease and viruses - if they have been so isolated some numpty showing up for a photo op could decimate them.

  JW preacher: But the Good News MUST be preached to all the inhabited earth and THEN the end will come.

  And just like that some numpty JW missionary spread disease and pestilence among the Sentinelese and they perished with a Watchtower magazine on the end of their spear.

  JW preacher: See, proof we are living in the Last Days. Jesus foretold there would be pestilence in one place after another. Who else on earth today is fulfilling Bible prophecy?

  And just like that some numpty JW preacher died from blood loss in hospital after refusing a blood transfusion following being pierced in the side by a Sentinelese spear.

  And there was silence.
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  cofty

  Steven Pinker deals with the myth of the Noble Savage in his excellent book The Blank Slate — The Modern Denial of Human Nature.