Obviously the tribe was aware of it, but if they've never been contacted, would they be able to even fathom what such a thing is? I'm genuinely curious because I'm also genuinely ignorant on how "uncontacted" tribes like that are and what their civilization is like.
Could anyone enlighten me? It seems like such a fascinating area of study.
But my only anthropology was a few GE classes in undergrad, so maybe someone with actual knowledge can chime in?
Hopefully future history books (or niche Ph.D. theses more likely ...) won't include a section about the bloody war between the plane-ists and the aplane-ists, over the deep theological issue of gods made manifest and physically watching over you... [See discussion below, not meant as a dig about this specific video or this specific group of people]
"uncontacted tribes will have seen aeroplanes on numerous occasions. The idea that this damages their self-image and/or spiritual beliefs belongs in the realm of fiction, and is based on the false supposition that their cultures are fragile. Experience shows that such peoples are in fact robust and well able to adapt to outside goods – most have been doing so for a very long time. Tribal peoples are not destroyed when they get or see things from outside, but by violence and disease as their lands are invaded."
It may not "hurt" them, but it does influence/effect them. It has to. Going way back to my anthro classes, all primitive cultures crafted religious beliefs as survival mechanisms, to pass down stories and things that would benefit future generations etc etc. It was also a way to explain what they couldn't explain but still experienced (weather, natural disasters...) and this would fall into that category.
What the FAQ did was use inflammatory language (damage, fragile) rather than talk about how this might shape and craft their thoughts and beliefs. If we haven't contacted them, we simply cannot know if IT DID impact them.
Suggesting that it damages anything is a significant value judgment. To suggest that notable, repeated, unexplained phenomena would have no impact at all whatsoever is sufficiently at odds with the entirety of human history, culture, and the general body of human mythology, that I'd like to see a stronger citation than the paragraph on their website if you find one.
Yes, fairly often by either adding it to their mythology or creating a cargo cult: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult
Whether either of those count as "damage" is academic; it's change. Either we inflict more change or we try to prevent all change.
Second, a helicopter high in the sky in broad daylight would be far less freaky.
Third, it's not inevitable that just anyone goes and form entire religions and mythological worlds based on seeing something fly by in the sky. You're average person just simply isn't that creative.
2) a noisy, black, flying thing that's bigger than any bird won't draw attention, clearly. Why would it be less freaky?
3) totally agree. But your average person does tell other people. Do you think Spielberg made Close Encounters because he was visited by aliens? Or a significant number of the many many many other alien books / movies?
2) nobody said it wouldn't draw attention. Watch the video. It did. But where's the evidence that having seen something freaky has now just irreparably altered their way of life?
3) Not sure where you're going with that. People tell stories, some of those stories have budgets, but...how has that changed our way of life? If (if!) these people go on to tell their children about the Big Noisy Freaky Thing In The Sky for generations to come...so what? Does this in any way prevent them from living the lives they have always lived? Does the fact that they've seen such a thing now mean that we have to invade their culture and "civilize" them, because otherwise...well, otherwise what? At most, they've got a new god to add to their stories. If that.
There's a statement by a Yamomani leader on the site that uncontacted tribes should be left alone on their own lands and since governments like Peru were denying their existence, the photos will help.
http://www.survivalinternational.org/material/1157
Yanomami if you recall are a stone age people from this area who only made peaceful contact a few decades ago. They have had contact and familiarity with some of these other tribes.
The tribes in this video are protected somewhat by the Brazilian government which uses aerial visits to check on the condition of tribes and make sure that outsiders have not breeched the perimeter of the reserve.
To be honest, I'm not sure I agree with what they've done. I have no proof, or evidence of anything, just a gut feel. That moment could have irreversibly changed each one of their lives - possibly for the worse.
Its all of our world, I know, but still. I mean, they're not zoo animals.