They don’t have valuable resources or a strategic location (eg. Chagos Islands) and they are not on some cult’s religious homeland.
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The word Negrito is the Spanish diminutive of negro , used to mean “little black person”
To add a little bit more context, being a Spanish speaker. the -ito suffix is a common way to affectionately refer to someone. However depending on the usage it can also be interpreted as a lowkey way of being patronizing or offensive toward someone while putting on an air of faux-friendliness.
Given Spain’s colonial past the wiki entry doesn’t surprise me but i do find it pretty offensive.
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This footage will aid in the casts used to create and erect an elaborate bronze statue in their honour.
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Well, we’re all African, if you go back far enough, which was my point: like Australians and Melanesians they’re just part of an earlier exodus from the continent that followed the southern coastline of Asia.
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Maybe he doesn’t want to be found?
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"The gods of the Disc have never bothered much about judging the souls of the dead, and so people only go to hell if that’s where they believe, in their deepest heart, that they deserve to go. Which they won’t do if they don’t know about it. This explains why it is so important to shoot missionaries on sight.”
― Terry Pratchett, [Eric]
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Perhaps it is voyeuristic curiosity but it was interesting to see what an uncontacted people look like.
I suppose most people are probably curious of such things but I am never stupid enough to visit them because I don’t feel like becoming a pin cushion.
I wonder how far the fellow got before they shot him full of arrows? Did they listen for even a minute, or was he frightening to them immediately? What did he even think he could accomplish, when it would be obvious they could never understand his language? I’m imagining a scenario where he just started reading from a Bible directly without any context even in his own language and he stood there as he got shot.
Leave these people alone I say leave them in peace
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It’s pretty fascinating trying to understand how these folks came to be where they are. Looks like the big wave of migration out of Africa happened around 70,000 years ago. The Aboriginal Australians shot straight across South Asia, without mixing with anyone else, through Papua New Guinea and into Australia. They were possibly already in place 65,000 years ago. At some point Denisovans migrated south from Siberia and intermixed with the Aboriginal Australians. Much later (around 26,000 years ago), the Andaman Islanders moved into place on their little archipelago, having spent tens of thousands of years in South or Southeast Asia. Despite having been in the area for so long, they seem to have no Denisovan DNA.
What caused the Aboriginal Australians to move so far so fast without leaving much of a trace genetically? What were these peoples’ experience of other humans that caused them to seek such isolation? I wish these things were knowable.
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“Hi, my name is John, and I’m here to tell you about our Lord and Saviour, Jesu…”
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Gord works in hilarious ways.
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I imagine he expected a Speaking-in-Tongues style miracle to take place. My guess is that the guy lived in a magical world where amazing things happen all the time on account of Jesus. Hopefully he died happy, and didn’t take anyone with him.
For what it’s worth, he’s one of the last to die like the original Christians. I have a lot more respect for that than for Joel Osteen’s prosperity cult. Talk about a true believer; this guy got shot with arrows, healed up, and got right back in the fight. A mild hangover is all it takes for me to throw in the towel.
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Kind of like how Teddy Roosevelt called Filipinos his “little brown brothers.”
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It’s amazing that this kind of extremely isolated place still exists, especially as the nearby Andamans become a more and more popular tourist destination.
For additional background on the video, you may find this interview with the only woman on the expedition interesting, as well.
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Or Americans. But that would be „we“ I assume.
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Given that if Jesus actually came back to life in the 21st century, armies of Xtians could set out to kill him, hiding out in a place with nice weather and a pristine beach doesn’t seem that imprudent a course of action. IJS.
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Depends how much oil they’re sitting on?
If we made sure that they could only fight with words, and the tribe needs regular target practice, this might be a win-win…
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Great article, thanks!
I think that’s true as far as it goes, but do we feel the same way if we’re talking about, say, a sect of religious fundamentalists who set up a community in Idaho where the church leaders have multiple child wives? I don’t know that I agree that non-interference is somehow the highest ideal at play in every instance.
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It’s different when people from a society with laws and mores form a splinter within that society in order to break those laws and mores. It would be a tougher call if said religious sect built up an unclaimed island and started doing their thing. You could argue we were still responsible for our citizens, so send in the Marines. Or, like in Firefly/Serenity, you could say we have no right to meddle with them.
However, an isolated culture that has never had appreciable outside influence? Leave them alone. We can only do harm.
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