Indian tribespeople fire on aid chopper

[rooboy]

Dozens of tribespeople, armed with bows and arrows, have fired at an Indian coastguard helicopter dropping food and water over the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

More than 6,000 Andaman and Nicobar islanders are dead or missing and it was feared the tribes had been wiped out.

The Indian coastguard helicopter was flying low over Sentinel Island to drop aid when it came under attack.

Dozens of tribesmen fired bows and arrows at the helicopter, a traditional warning that outsiders are not welcome.

Officials believe they survived the devastation by using age-old early warning systems.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200501/s1276431.htm

[Maple]

1. Dunno how 'traditional' it has to be

Having arrows fired at you should give the hint to anyone at anytime that they're not welcome.

[mrbassman03]

2. Hahaha... yeah n/t

[Massachusetts]

7. "using age old warning systems"

They listened (not in the literal sense)to the animals.

[0007]

9. The "Traditional" method didn't work in North America

[jbnow]

3. The interesting part:

<snip>
They might have run to high ground for safety after noticing changes in the behaviour of birds and marine wildlife.

Scientists are examining the possibility to see whether it can be used to predict earth tremors or tsunamis in future.

[merwin]

4. Haven't we known that for AGES now?

[aquart]

5. If they're firing arrows, they're alive!

[cornermouse]

6. Sort of looks like they don't need anything from us...

[saigon68]

8. Send in BLACKWATER MERCENARIES TO KILL THEM ALL

Only $2000.00 per day--Per Hired Killer.

[cornermouse]

26. I have absolutely no idea what it is that you think

you're saying.

[KingChicken]

10. Alive and fighting, there going to be alright...

You've got to love the islander tribes, they are so primal, god forbid if one of them gets a hold of a cell phone.

[NorthernSpy]

11. I find this story oddly comforting...

They've survived a catastrophe by their wits, and even in the face of such utter destruction, they still have the morale to reject the meddling outsiders and their care packages. That kind of dignity is largely alien to those of us who live in modern mass societies.

The spirit of these tribesmen is a great thing. It is a giant middle finger in the face of the kind of condescension that brought us those enraging television news comparisons of hungry Indonesian survivors to a pack of feral dogs. This is one rejection of help that is more heartening to me than any display of gratitude could have been.

[DS1]

17. I see a corrolary between what you just wrote and how FReepers

see themselves as not needing to be saved from their own primitivism by "education" and "liberals".

Problem is, FReepers can vote

[NorthernSpy]

19. freepers are as dependent on the mass society as everyone else...

And besides, I thought that they considered themselves "rugged individualists". I'm not sure that this notion of "individualism" is at all characteristic of a tribal society like the one in the story. The freeperist cultural atavism doesn't reach back that far.

Not quite seeing the corollary, I'm afraid.

In any case, there's certainly nothing wrong with defending a people's right to self-determination. So, yeah: the do-gooders oughtta quit hassling the Andamanese folks.

[DS1]

21. Take this sentence

It is a giant middle finger in the face of the kind of perceived condescension that brought us those liberaltelevision news comparisons of hungry Indonesian survivors to a pack of feral dogs.

Added one word, changed another. I dunno, something struck me as similar to FReeper pride of ignorance.

[NorthernSpy]

23. didn't you see the report (CNN, I think) that made the "animals" simile?

Some survivors in Aceh ran toward an aid helicopter and began tearing into the food boxes. They hadn't eaten in days, apparently. And the reporter compared them to a pack of animals.

That's the report I was referring to. Some people here have mentioned it in other threads.

It is a giant middle finger in the face of the kind of perceived condescension that brought us those liberaltelevision news comparisons of hungry Indonesian survivors to a pack of feral dogs.

Added one word, changed another. I dunno, something struck me as similar to FReeper pride of ignorance.
I'll thank you to quote me accurately, without adding things that I didn't say. The condescension of the report I referred to was not "perceived" so much as "blatant" and "in your face". And as for "liberal television news", that is your formulation, not mine. I simply did not say it, which is why your comments are unreasonable.

Now, why don't you tell us why some tribesfolk who want only to be left in peace remind you of "FReeper pride of ignorance".

[DS1]

25. No, I didn't see the report

Your tone perplexes me however, and I don't care to continue this conversation :hi:

[NorthernSpy]

27. oh, really...

My tone "perplexes" you, eh? Well, I try to be clear in what I say. I can't swear that I always succeed in that. :shrug:

Nothing in your tone perplexes me, of course. Subtlety ain't everybody's strong suit. Implication noted and duly resented.

[joefree1]

12. From another article

From another article:
But the happy news, from Press Trust of India, is this. A team from the Anthropological Survey of India reports Jan. 3 that the "five aboriginal tribes inhabiting the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, our last missing link with early civilisation , have emerged unscathed from the tsunamis because of their age old 'warning systems.'" ASI director V. R. Rao informs us that the "tribals get wind of impending danger from biological warning signals like the cry of birds and change in the behavioural patterns of marine animals. They must have run to the forests for safety. No casualties have been reported among these five tribes ." If this is true, as one hopes, it suggests that the diminishing number of humans enjoying what Marx called "primitive communism" require not officials, anthropologists, missionaries or alien humanitarians for their happiness or survival so much as the right to be left alone in their Stone Age classless societies.
More
http://progressivetrail.org/articles/050104Leupp.shtml


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PaganWarrior/

Tribes around the world are constantly under attacked by Missionaries, lumber and oil companies.

[JohnyCanuck]

15. Elephants' advanced warning saved tourists

KHAO LAK: Agitated elephants felt the tsunami coming, and their sensitivity saved about a dozen foreign tourists from the fate of thousands killed by the giant waves.

"I was surprised because the elephants had never cried before," mahout Dang Salangam said on Sunday on Khao Lak beach of the eight-elephant business offering rides to tourists.

The elephants started trumpeting - in a way Dang, 36, and his wife Kulada, 24, said could only be described as crying - at first light, about the time an earthquake measured at a magnitude of 9.0 cracked open the sea bed off Indonesia's Sumatra island.

The elephants soon calmed down. But they started wailing again about an hour later and this time they could not be comforted despite attempts at reassurance.

More....

[NorthernSpy]

20. Oh, it was nice of the Indian govt to offer aid, but...

... such help always has strings attached. Aid turns into intervention. Nothing stays benevolent for long.

Tribes around the world are constantly under attacked by Missionaries, lumber and oil companies.

Yup. And all that is done to 'backward peoples' on the grounds that it is for their own good. So that they can be driven from their homeland into the confines of some garbage dump of a city; so that the logging and drilling can commence in peace. :eyes:

[ooglymoogly]

13. all that paradise that could be exploited;

all those savages that could be converted to jesus freaks; how much longer can they survive? keep those arrows flying

[Baclava]

14. Nuke em...

They shot first.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

16. Bloody insurgents!

They're everywhere!

[WillyT]

18. My Kind Of Insurgents !!!

They don't need or want us, and our 'modernity', one bit!

OTOH - Maybe WE are the insurgents, and they're just some of what's left of the human race.

Hmmm...

Anybody know how many of these primitive tribes are left on Earth? I thought they found a tribe on some Philippine Island years ago. And I'd imagine that there might be some left in the Amazon region.

:shrug:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

22. Good point...

Here and there on this planet you can find pockets of people who would reject "Civilized" Man's trappings as evil.

I've read about Amazonian tribes, normally hostile towards outsiders, who have in recent years sent ambassadors in an attempt to raise ecological awareness in the world that surrounds them. I'm afraid their success is doubtful...

[RavenSaysNeverMore]

24. Then stop the aid flights to these people firing on us

It is not too complicated to see when we are not needed or wanted. Duh.

[NorthernSpy]

28. it was actually the Indian Coast Guard they shot at, not us

But yeah, I imagine they'd zing a few arrows at anyone who came unbidden.

And welcome to DU! :)

[RavenSaysNeverMore]

29. Shooting first before understanding the intruder is often a mistake

These arrow shooters may need to read upon modern aid.