_c._1773.jpg "James-Cook-witnessing-human-sacrifice-in-Taihiti-circa-1773")
An 1815 engraving of James Cook, English navigator, witnessing human sacrifice in Taihiti in circa 1773
Travel exposes us to many strange sights and experiences. By setting foot beyond our own borders we might explore palaces and temples that we’ve seen before in movies; we might meet people of races we’ve never encountered and see their colourful national dress; we’ll probably hear many languages that we don’t understand.
Most of our experiences are overwhelmingly positive and reinforce for us the value of expanding our horizons through travelling. But what of those moments when we see things that make us very uncomfortable, or even angry? How do we react when we come face to face with those practices and local traditions that we view as morally wrong, yet have persisted for many centuries?
Blind faith
In my earlier career as an optometrist I worked on a charity project that involved conducting a series of eye camps in rural Uganda. I remember seeing one young girl who was totally blind. At first she said didn’t know what had caused this, but a local nurse later told me that the girl had been to see a local shaman about a matter unrelated to her eyes, and he had given her a liquid to wash her face with, and specifically to put in her eyes. The main ingredient was horse urine, and this potion had rendered this young girl blind.
I was angry and upset at how this ‘doctor’ had damaged the life of this girl, yet, as the nurse explained, the belief in the power of the witch doctors is very strong and it is the ‘white man’s medicine’ that is viewed with the most suspicion.
The curse of twins
A good friend of ours travels regularly to the remote hill tribes of Indo-China and recently told us of a visit to a tribe where she witnessed firsthand many of the rituals of the animist beliefs that are held there. The most distressing story by far was of the twins that were born in the village. Believing that twins are a curse, the villagers carefully prepared the two babies for the sacrificial ritual and with great sadness suffocated them by pushing leaves into their mouths. This was necessary to appease the gods who had expressed their anger by sending these poor children.
Is tolerance enough?
How does one challenge such deep-rooted beliefs and hope to create a change? Or is it in fact our place to challenge these practices at all? Do we accept that we are witnesses to practices and behaviours that are derived from many generations, and that as witnesses we have no power other than that of observation?
Some will argue that observation without action makes us complicit in the wrong that is done. Others will say that by informing ourselves at first hand of some of the physical and mental abuse that takes place in the name of culture, we can become advocates for change and perhaps influence enough people to make a lasting difference.
Whatever the answer, there is no doubting the power of our travel experiences in exposing us to the many beliefs and value systems that exist throughout the world. What we do with those experiences is another matter altogether.
Andy Jarosz owns the 501 Places travel blog, sharing stories and opinions from many years of travel. Andy also writes regularly for a number of travel companies including adventure travel specialists and Local Travel Movement partner Tourdust.
Quite a point of view… I guess these forms of cruelty are present in all kinds of societies. They just happen in different ways. There is always need for a scapegoat. The gruesomeness of what you describe is very quick to show the dark side of things. But the fact is that very dark things happen in western developed societies too. Perhaps in a more subtle manner, but definitely with as much gruesome cruelty. That’s why if we advocate righteousness, I think we should start at home, not in the hills of Indo-China.
Posted by Kamran | December 5, 2011, 8:30 pmHi Andy, nice piece.
On the flip side I wonder how many “locals” ponder the constant traffic of wealthy westerners who seem to have all that anyone could want …. but are often rude, demanding, and unhappy.
I was just recently in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu (home to some of the poorest …yet happiest, people in the world). For many of the tourists I met I could see that they were having a hard time looking past the apparently “primitive” lifestyles of the locals to get to the essence of why the local were so content with their lives.
Seems we all have paradigms to deal with.
Cheers………. Len
Posted by Len Cordiner | December 5, 2011, 10:47 pmThought provoking article Andy. I believe exposing yourself to different cultures is important but not at the risk of imposing your own belief systems.
Posted by Luke | December 6, 2011, 4:20 amApologies for length – you’ve opened up big topic here!
Thank you Andy for opening up what will,, hopefully become a very robust and insightful discussion. Your post certainly got me thinking and I will write a post and link it to yours, for sure.
Your provocative and thoughtful post describes the unease that occurs when people from two societies meet and different value systems collide.
As travel destinations are societies, I had to define for myself what a society is and I came up with the following:
“Societies are groups of people that have shared a common geography (place) and history (time) and developed a culture i.e., a way of “making sense of their world” that works. This culture is based on a set of shared assumptions often called a worldview or paradigm.”
A few decades ago there were many opportunities for travelers to experience “culture shock.” But with every year that passes there are fewer opportunities for such transformative encounters. Wade Davies, the Canadian ethno-botanist, has suggested that we are losing at least one unique culture approximately every two weeks.
Is it irony or a simply irresistible result of the law of scarcity that we’re witnessing a rise in interest in local travel and a growth in the demand for “immersive cultural experiences” just at the point when most exotic cultures are being rendered extinct?
Ideally the purpose of travel is to become aware that one’s own worldview is not the only one or necessarily the “right” one. If a traveler experiences that then the term “conscious travel” is well and truly justified for it will have caused the traveller to wake up and perhaps start to examine the unexamined assumptions that shape his or her perceptual filters.
Supposing your culture had lived in harmony with the natural world for thousands of years but was transported to a North American city out of the Amazon jungle, and perhaps Annie Leonard’s “A Story of Stuff” was translated into your native tongue so you could understand the local culture. Chances are that you would quickly form a judgment that our culture was highly destructive as it caused its citizens to fall into some form or trance or madness. Supposing too that your Amazonian culture had the power to turn off the electrical grid and you took action out of a desire to help right a wrong. You may have had the best of intents but were likely oblivious to the impact of such a seemingly curative act. Not surprisingly resistance by the local “natives” would have been fierce.
I support the Local Travel Movement because, by respectfully meeting and engaging with “locals,” (people whose perception of reality is different than ours), i.e., we can be woken up from the trance of our own culture – we can become conscious. For all cultures are just that – a form of trance; a set of agreements that hold or collective worldview together. In short, local travel provides opportunities for us to become conscious and that has to be the biggest gift of travel.
So as travelers to exotic communities, it would be wise to spend more time observing and understanding than judging and tampering – well meaning action that righteously but unwittingly can unravel a complex cultural web we can poorly understand.
And it would also be wise to then spend more time observing the injustices, craziness or even obsolescence of our own values before insisting that the few authentically alternative cultures, that do remain on this planet, be changed to fit what we insist is morally right.
Posted by Anna Pollock | December 6, 2011, 6:07 amI think these barbarian and subcultures have nothing to add to the travel and cultural space we live in nowadays….
Posted by Juan Carlos Escobar | December 6, 2011, 10:02 amThanks to Kamran, Len, Luke and Anna for your thoughtful responses. I’m glad this post has started a debate on what is a complex issue.
The BBC ran a short series a couple of years ago about a group of men from a South Pacific island who came to the UK and followed them as they experienced one culture shock after another. The moment that I still remember vividly is when the men were horrified at seeing the homeless on the streets on a winter’s night. That we as a society could allow (force) people to sleep in the freezing cold on the doorsteps of empty buildings was beyond their comprehension. Yet somehow we are so accustomed to this that we can walk on by and pretend that the homeless don’t exist as people.
So on the one hand the argument that we have more than enough examples of our own cruelty to others is a strong one.
But does that mean we shouldn’t judge instances that are undeniably wrong when we see them: cases where young girls are slaughtered or raped, women are denied the most basic human rights or where people are mutilated and permanently maimed in the name of ‘tradition’ or ‘culture’?
Taking your final question Anna, do we accept that the outrages described above are only outrages as viewed from our western perspective and that the preservation of these cultures is critical? Or do we apply universal human rights, thus imposing the view of the ‘developed’ world on these final remaining alternative cultures to protect the ‘victims’, even if those involved may not see themselves as victims?
A fascinating topic.
Posted by Andy Jarosz | December 6, 2011, 10:26 amIt was a great documentary. I recently came across this follow-up article by one of the guys involved –
The Tribesman who Facebook Friended Me (http://www.salon.com/2011/10/13/the_tribesman_who_facebook_friended_me/). So interesting.
Posted by Luke Ford | December 14, 2011, 9:13 amThank you for articulating a topic I’ve often found myself thinking about, but hesitant to vocalize in the wake of political correct-ness and personal reading of too much post-colonial theory.
About a year ago, I read “Nomad” by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and it began to transform my thinking when it comes to social action and speaking up for inequality and harmful/destructive actions which are justified and enabled by lines like “it’s just a different belief system or culture”. It is a tough line to walk, and I’ve often questioned what right I have to take action against behavior that I strongly disagree with and that, even worse, harms women/groups/minorities, when I’m approaching as an ‘outsider’. I don’t think pontificating is the answer, because it leads to single-sided perspectives, which can become equally harmful. Rather, local grassroots organizations that understand the nuance of local belief systems and, more importantly, can integrate into local communities – I think that’s the best approach.
Posted by Jenna Makowski | December 6, 2011, 7:03 pmThe debate is warming up and that’s most encouraging.
I love paradoxes and one that we are living with is the rise in interest in unique cultures and worldviews that is correlated with a growing recognition that we are “all one” – in other words, as human beings, there is more that connects than separates.
The good news is that all paradigms and the notions of acceptable behaviour that stem from them are temporary. A mere 400 years ago, people were burnt at the stake for reading the wrong version of the Bible or collecting herbs from the forest. Slaves weren’t freed in America until 1862! Up until less than 20 years ago, every adult had the right to smoke in public….
I’m not against encouraging shifts in values or consciousness – in fact that’s why I formed Conscious Travel. It’s just that I don’t think pointing the figure away from oneself and at others is the place to accelerate those shifts. We must start from within; and try to model alternative ways of being that work. That’s a lot harder and less gratifying as well!
We also have to respect boundaries and the fact that what we call universal human rights are actually still locally agreed human rights. Honour killing of women is considered not just a right but a responsibility in some cultures. So do we in the west have the right to impose our will on others in their own country? I don’t think the imposition tactic will work because it violates another right – that of national sovreignty. But when individuals choose to change their residence and citizenship and live in the UK or Canada, for example, we do have a right to expect that they will adhere to our laws and customs.
Even though we’ve barely touched the surface of this complex issue, I will be pleasantly surprised if the debate deepens and continues. I sure hope so as it will provide further evidence that we’re becoming awake, aware and alert as travellers and members of the tourism “community.” We’re on the road to becoming conscious!
Posted by Anna Pollock | December 7, 2011, 7:43 amI believe that it is not right to change an entire culture, nor should we ever try to. But if you are witnessing something overseas, or wherever you travels may take you that you believe is wrong, try to right it. People are different, and that’s what makes us great.
But people are different, and that’s what can push us apart. We don’t have to agree with each other’s cultures. But we sure as hell can say something. Or in some cases, DO something.
That’s the beauty of being an individual. You are in charge of your own destiny. Sadly, some can use this power to destroy, some can use this to change, some can use this to ignore. There is no right “answer” here.
If we something that we believe is wrong, we can either accept it, or fight against it. The choice is entirely up to you, and the consequences are yours to accept.
Alone.
Posted by The Disfigured | December 7, 2011, 2:52 pmTo add another comment, I think a great disservice is also done, when discussing topics such as this one, when entire cultures are approached as monolithic entities. “American culture” is vast enough, for example, to encompass both pro-life and pro-choice opinions. I’m sure there are equally opposing opinions, for example, in “Saudi culture” when it comes to honour killings. One side or voice may be stronger or more prevalent, and in many cases, strong enough to be written into the law or to create overarching social tendencies, which shape individual opinions and moral codes. But “culture” is never one, single entity.
Posted by Jenna Makowski | December 7, 2011, 9:07 pmI think it’s important to respect cultural differences, but to also recognize that there are certain elements of EVERY culture that need to be changed in order to measure up to a simple standard of human rights.
For example, I have a great appreciation for shamanistic cultures, but I find it reprehensible when they castrate a young girl’s clitoris, or slaughter an endangered species, due to some archaic belief that has no rooting into scientific fact.
But at the same time, as the commenter mentioned above, we in “civilized society” due equally reprehensible things all the time, from ignoring the plight of the homeless to letting children languish in poverty while corporate executive live like the sultans of the 21st century.
With developing nations, it seems to me that education is the key. While we don’t want to see any culture losing touch with its traditions, there are some changes that can only come about with the enlightenment of elevated consciousness.
Posted by Bret @ Green Global Travel | December 10, 2011, 3:17 pmI think this is only a real moral dilemma if one lives in a culture where nobody does dangerous things in the name of superstition. Or, for that matter, where nobody does horrible things at all.
I mean, in the West, the Catholic church has spent the last fifty years enabling the systematic rape of children. And yet you’d never reconsider traveling to predominantly Catholic countries.
Even at a smaller level, people where I’m from (rural Louisiana in the US) do absolutely backwards things that hurt people all the damn time. They “don’t believe in” things like seat belts, laws against driving drunk, or vaccinations for their children.
Maybe this is only a real moral problem coming from someplace like Britain which is so damn reasonable about everything.
Posted by Sara Clarke | December 20, 2011, 3:43 pm