Drudge links to this head-shaker of a story:
An Indian helicopter dropping food and water over the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands has been attacked by tribesmen using bows and arrows.Well, that was nice of the them, because they could have taken it as a sign that the tribes wanted to destroy the helicopter, or thought the helicopter was a giant demon in the sky, or were re-enacting some old Western they'd rented through Netflix. Uh, wait, it couldn't have been that last one...
There were fears that the endangered tribal groups had been wiped out when massive waves struck their islands.
But the authorities say the attack is a sign that they have survived.
Now, please don't tell me I'm being insensitve to the tribal people. I'm truly glad they're alive. But I think there's some sort of huge cultural gap here; I just don't get the part about shooting a helicopter with bows and arrows.
At the same time, I also think it's odd to refer to the tribes as "endangered". What, are they hunted, like the endangered animals in Africa? Is their homeland about to be steamrolled for a giant amusement park or shopping mall? Or are they being targeted by evil American imperialists eager to start selling them Coca Cola and iPods?
Oh, I suppose it must be that last one. Who else would be to blame but Americans?
2 comments:
This part is simple: This is an endangered tribe because they're the type of people who attack helicopters with bows and arrows...
TJS
And as a follow-up to TJS....and always lose because they are only slighlty out-armed!
Seriously though, in my most humble Wisocnsin opinion, a group of people like these island inhabitants is "endangered" when they become "civilized" and are no longer fodder for the anthropologists who want to study them.
All for now,
pmm
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