I am looking at all the comments, and would really like to make a point from where I am coming from. First and foremost, I was episode 4 Namibia on Tribal Wives. The advert was posted on the British Medical Journal, otherwise, I would not have had the opportunity to see it. The reason for my application, was that being married at a very young age myself, I have not had the opportunity to be well travelled. However, I suppose in retrospect, wished to understand me. I carried huge emotional scars from my past. I was under the impression that this programme would give me an insight into what it would really be like living with a tribe, as a tribal woman. Living like they do and dealing with all the tribulations that came along the way. In my personal opinion, after my experience I now understand how caught up the western world has become in commercialism, capatilism and seeking happiness from outside of ourselves. In my humble opinion, it was a programme that compared and contrasted the lives of women in the western world and what we consider problems compared to the lives of the women in the various tribes we lived with. You can big it up, and look at anthropology, politics, history etc, or you can accept the programme for what it is. On the adverts it has stated six ordinary women, however has bopo has stated correctly six extraordinary women. I cannot speak for everyone, but this opportunity has changed my life immensly. I feel so lucky to have had this experience. I would also like to add, that at one time, I had droves of children running after me with total awe, and this brought me back to my own childhood, being brought up in Ireland in the 70s and 80s, a third world country then, where my friends and I would run after american tourists. I thought to myself, we are not that different. So to finally sum up, this is an experience that grows emotional intelligence, as Neizche puts it, pain brings growth, and god those tapeworms just kindda put you off brekky! Best wishes,

Wow someone who may understand some of how I am currently feeling

I accept your points. The voice of my friends the Huoarani are still not being heard but you found survival international and can see the wonderful work they do throughout the world

Sadly the people bit and personal relationships got lost in the translation on the telly. ( I had two translators so I could really only use my instinct to know what was going on )

If you want to read my journal you can buy it here ( if thats ok with the moderator ? )

http://shop.waponi.uk.com/epages/es113467.sf

I have to say it is ” girly ” but then I am a girl !

I can assure you that 100 % of profits made go directly to my Huoarani friends…and I have already sent one copy of the book to New Zealand.

When your house is burning down which is what is happening to my friends you tend to shout as loud as you can.

Oh and everyone is getting Bruce Parry CD’s from me this Christmas.You can get this great music CD on this site and it supports the great work that survival international do ( couldnt really give them my journal without looking shameful !)

You sound like you could be noisy ..please feel free to be noisy on behalf of the community I stayed with in Ecuador. I can not believe no one is asking why they invited me there in the first place. I have learned so much my head sometimes feels like it will explode . I think part of it is that if you have not experienced leaving with different communites you have no idea of the impact that it has on them or you.

You and your friends would be very welcome should you visit my home:)

regards

Bopo

I hope I don’t sound too impolite here — but looking at your comments, Mr. Maxwell, I’m struck by the lack of sophistication in your argument (”I’m no anthropologist, but everyone likes the show”); coupled with a dangerous confidence that you’re doing the right thing (you’re “surprised” by Mr Edwards comments? Really?).

I’m no anthropologist either, but I’ve spent much of my life in other countries, and have met people from all sorts of tribes — and it doesn’t seem too difficult to figure out that some people live their lives the way they do because they have no other choice. And this can even apply to inviting guests into their homes or into the community in which their very real and meaningful lives are locked.

To transform that reality into an “experience” (for 6 women) or “entertainment” (for the mass TV viewers) — or even “education” (a laboratory for study) — is, in my mind, not just an insult to the natives of your temporary theater set, but an insult to the idea of life, its sacred nature and the right of people to believe in that sacredness.

You may know, in fact, that in most cultures around the world, it’s considered rude to refuse a visitor — worse than rude, “sacrilegious” might be a better word. And thus, when you say, “Every community we went to understood what our series intended to do and were very willing participants,” this sounds like a very bold claim to make — especially when you consider all the lawsuits over “reality shows” filed by participants who are native English speakers AND seasoned TV watchers. These must have been some very mainstream and TV-savvy tribes indeed to, as you claim, “understand” what your series “intended to do.”

So now, Mr. Maxwell, I have some friends here in New Zealand who are Maori — the sort of moko-faced, haka-dancing Maori your audience might consider “exotic” and interesting. We’d like to come to your neighborhood, stay inside your house, meet your family and make a documentary about the experience. Can we? To me, that’s the kind of show that would be truly educational, entertaining and thought-provoking for your audience, and a great experience for my frends (who normally don’t have the means to travel round the world) — just imagine what sort of things might catch their eye about your lifestyle!

(And no response from you, or a rejection of the offer, would be very rude indeed).

Coming from a history and political science background, I can only applaud the premise of the show. The episode that Guy was so upset with was possibly one of my favorites. It was amazing to give us a look into the community of the tribe and it’s wonderful to see how open and understanding and accepting they are to outsiders.

If Guy can’t get over the fact of the marriage, which I thought was absolutely wonderful considering in one month the tribe completely adopted her and would be willing to admit her into their tribe regardless of her place of birth or skin color, was amazing to witness.

The overbearing emphasis on the romance resulted in a missed important opportunity to demonstrate how some Huaorani communities are adapting to the threats posed by illegal logging and the oil industry. Although Karen was clearly overwhelmed with the resilience of the Huaorani community, the connection between ensuring the longevity of Huaorani culture and protection of their forests was not persuasively made.

What should have been emphasized is the fact that Huaorani communities and particularly women are beginning to successfully challenge some of the negative outside pressures facing them. By establishing ecotourism ventures, the Huaorani and other indigenous groups are not only developing key strategies to protect their land and families, but are creating commercially viable means to reinforce their cultural identity.

For example, Huaorani women and girls are generating extra sources of income through selling handicrafts to tourists. This extra cash helps assert community ownership over their territory and sends a strong message to those keen to exploit Huaorani lands that they are more independent and better placed to resist bribes.

More exposure of this Huaorani strategy should have given rise to a dialogue on how Karen’s own daughters are growing up in a fast changing and interconnected world, where our aspirations and everyday choices will become increasingly affected by energy and climate security. If these Huaorani families can adapt their lives to outside pressures, what excuse do we have in the West not to do the same? Some of the oil western companies seek is after all very near to Huaorani territory, such as underneath the Yasuni National Park. If the next generation want a car, and little progress is made on alternative fuels, the Huaorani and their territory could be devastated.

How ironic that our insatiable thirst for oil can have a disastrous effect on indigenous communities exercising not only sustainable livelihoods, but also providing essential environmental and climatic services for the world through protecting their forests.

Climate change and resource scarcity are upon us. Indigenous peoples are arguably some of the best qualified groups to help us adapt to life in a carbon constrained and finite world. This is what the show should have hit home, not some jungle book version of a Club Med romance.

The BBC and/or the other production organisations involved should apologize and compensate the Huaorani for any damages.

The programme undoubtedly provided important exposure for the Huaorani community of Bameno, which is under threat from encroaching loggers and oil companies. However, the objective of the programme, which was according to the BBC to give UK audiences a real insight into how tribal women really live and their hopes and fears, was superseded by an ill-conceived romance.

Although no one can blame Karen for becoming the object of affection for one of the community members, it was the way this romance was allowed to continue which resulted in an ill-fated ‘tribal’ wedding. The show finished with Karen saying goodbye to her hosts and Huaorani husband, Ewenginto, who said in parting ‘I will live alone until she comes back’. Karen, a successful businesswoman with two children, said that would be ‘extremely unlikely’.

This suggests that the original objective of the programme was poorly constructed. It was irresponsible to send a single-woman into the forest with the intention of acting as a ‘tribal wife’ to live with an indigenous community where single-men were surely going to get the wrong idea. The emphasis of the programme resulted in Karen essentially being groomed for a tribal live. For Ewenginto who respected and admired Karen’s efforts, this simply demonstrated what a great catch Karen would be.

The wedding conducted towards the end of Karen’s stay was very much a real wedding for Ewenginto and the community. The producers should have foreseen any complications and delicately prevented this from happening. One gets the feeling that the whole romance was spun as long as possible in order to create an intriguing and novelty programme. It would appear that the Huaorani community may have been misled about the real intensions of the show.

Karen was very up-set when she left as was her new Huaorani husband. It would seem that it was the error of the production team and the translators who misinformed Karen about what was happening which led to the wedding.

The programme also paid little respect to Huaorani culture as Karen made insensitive remarks about the community not having anything to worry about such as a mortgage. In an interview she also said that ‘the business of the tribe was gathering and hunting for food’. Comments like this demonstrate the insensitive and patronising way in which the visitors treated the community.

It is worth remembering that indigenous communities like this one are currently embroiled in a multi-billion dollar law suit against Chevron-Texaco for the latter’s role in contaminating a substantial area of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Defending the Amazon rainforest and cultural identity is no picnic.

Coming from an Anthropological background, I find these programmes of great interest. Thanks survival for informing me of this programme, i will try find a way of seeing it one way or another!!