SNIPPITS AND SNAPPITS: THE TOULAMBI AND JEAN-PIERRE DUTILLEUX

Anjio, Head tribesman

Beyond the last ragged edges of civilization
are the people that time has forgotten,
living reminders of a vanished age,
survivors of a world
that has virtually disappeared.

This following series of videos is truly amazing. These people living as they did in the stone age, meet something they never believed existed ~ a white man. The whole episode is beautiful and a delight to watch as they see miracles for the first time. IE matches. Or light brown hair and white skin.
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Far from being a stupid primitive people, as can be seen in the eyes of Anjio above, the Toulambi are quick, clever, insightful, and very gentle. I like to think that, if the world fails as we continue hurtling to whatever apocalyptic future we create for ourselves, such people as these Toulambi, with their survival skills, would be hope for the human race to carry on ... they certainly have human traits long lost by the "civilization" process.

For centuries the hill tribes of the Owen Ranmge in Papua, New Guinea have lived in isolation to avoid war. In a landscape of dense tropical rainforests each tribe stays within a well established territory. This explains why some of them have survived into the new millennium without any contact with the outside world.

Others previously known have left their villages to move deeper in the forest to escape conflicts or the religious zeal of evangelical preachers only to be rediscovered and labeled as lost tribes. European explorers first encountered the Toulambi in 1993.

Toulambi Hammer

They were almost entirely decimated by malaria. Modern medicine helped to stop the ravages of the disease. They didn't believe white men existed but if they did, they must be the 'living dead.'

Taking a lot of care with their appearance, the Toulambi men wear a bone from the Cassowary bird through the nose, large necklaces of river shells and bird of paradise feathers in their hair. They must look their best to attract a mate and reproduce. They are hunters and gatherers.

The entire tribe moves in uncanny silence for fear of alerting the game. They know the migration trails of animals and the best time of year to find fish, the growing cycles of the palms, bamboo, wild fruits and the roots they rely on. Always on the move. The rhythm of their lives is that of the jungle. It gives them no time to create complex art, to develop science or conceive profound metaphysical philosophies.

The Toulambi consume wild tobacco heavily. The first transatlantic tribes found by Europeans said the white man gave them alcohol but they got their revenge by giving him tobacco.

Toulambi pipe

The Toulambi are among the very last witnesses of our distant past. When the last tribe is contacted and moved from the Stone Age into the modern world, from being free and masters of their own destiny to being poor and at the lowest level of our western society, it is a part of ourselves that will vanish forever.

Tribe meets white man for the first time ~ Original Footage.

From Tribal Journeys The Toulambi.

A series by Jean-Pierre Dutilleux