Hundreds of civilizations have existed with their own cultures embracing different beliefs,
customs and concepts, from religious matters to descriptions of beauty that defy our imagination.
Many have been lost with the passage of time, either due to clashes where they were decimated
and were eventually conquered and absorbed by other civilizations or were directly forced
to join the growing cities, advancing in technology and social spheres and losing what distinguished
them as a tribe along the way .
Few are those that survive in the face of change, unwilling to be indoctrinated with
alien beliefs and controlled by alien governance systems, some being overly hostile to visitors.
Today we will try to get involved in their cultures and learn more about the most isolated
tribes on the planet, Welcome to Copernicus's Galaxy.
The Suri Tribe and painful beauty rituals
Beauty is subjective because everyone perceives their environment in their own way.
What some may find horrifying, to others may seem beautiful and that includes plants, animals
and ourselves.
We shouldn’t worry, there is someone out there for everyone.
This concept is also closely linked to the cultural traits of each region, society and
specific group, which opens the door to an infinite number of possibilities, from a couple
of piercings to invasive and extreme body modifications.
The Suri, an African tribe that inhabits the margins of the Ethiopian state, have a striking
way of expressing themselves that consists of partially or totally painting their bodies
with white paint and wearing elaborate hats made of vegetation such as fruits and flowers,
among other ornaments.
But what makes them noteworthy are mainly two ritual practices, scarification and lip
plates.
Men who manage to defeat an enemy in battle mark their skin by cutting small pieces of
it and then smearing ash or sap which will inflame the wound and scar.
Although this sounds painful, they are very proud of their scars, plus it not only works
as a sign of status, but it has aesthetic purposes that within their culture help them
to attract a mate.
Women are not left out of this practice because when puberty, their first cycle and childbirth
arrive, they will perform the scarification in a decorative way, creating intricate marks
that create shapes together.
But that’s nothing compared to the following beauty ritual performed by women of this tribe
when puberty arrives, removing two lower teeth and then making a hole in the lower lip to
hold a clay disc.
The purpose of this disc is to dilate and enlarge her lip so that it can be as large
as possible.
This is a symbol of enormous beauty and allows the woman's family to demand more cows in
exchange for their daughter's hand.
Although outside of beauty, it is worth mentioning their traditional stick fight where between
20 and 30 members of rival villages face each other in a martial art show, a brutal sport
made to accustom the younger Suri to bloodshed, something important for a tribe where men
play roles as warriors or hunters, as it is believed that in this way they will be less
afraid of both dangerous animals and armed enemies from rival tribes.
The Bajau, the mutant humans of the sea
It may not be as mind-blowing as a village of humans with gills that allow them to live
under the ocean like in science fiction movies, but they are certainly worthy of admiration.
This tribe is known as the "Sea Nomads" and is the last of its kind.
They have been living for hundreds of years on houseboats and long wooden boats called
"Lepa Lepa" in the stretch of ocean located between Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Their whole life revolves around the sea, from which they collect materials and hunt
for food.
They are convinced that the sea is a living entity where spirits inhabit the currents,
tides, reefs and mangroves.
They try to feel and understand this great body of water they call home, they are a very
colorful, festive and musical people.
But beyond all these characteristics, what really makes them special is that from an
early age they become expert divers.
While a normal person can only last one or two minutes underwater, they are able to withstand
13 full minutes under 60 meters of water with only wooden goggles and some weights to help
them sink.
It is believed that this ability is due to natural selection, giving them a spleen 50%
larger than most and the adaptation of their blood vessels in the lungs to withstand the
effects of pressure.
According to Melissa Llardo of the Center for Geogenetics at the University of Copenhagen,
a larger spleen helps to release a greater amount of oxygen into the blood, which contracts
to obtain extra blood.
This strange mutation continues to be studied thanks to the potential it could have to treat
diseases such as acute hypoxia.
However, this is becoming increasingly difficult due to the pollution of the oceans and massive
fishing by large food corporations, which sometimes use techniques that employ chemicals
such as cyanide.
All this affects the ecosystem and the lifestyle of the tribe, being forced to move to dry
land.
That, added to the fact that the Bajau rarely reach old age due to decompression syndrome
for not respecting the depressurization time that the body needs before re-emerging from
the depths, make the progress of these studies complicated.
Sentinel, the most hostile island on the planet
Their existence has been known since the late nineteenth century, but recent DNA studies
of Andaman tribes place them as direct descendants of the first African settlers who moved to
Australia 60,000 years ago.
It is believed that their aggressiveness was born when British officer Maurice Vidal Portman
went to this island in 1870 with the intention of documenting the different tribes of the
archipelagos.
When he saw that the conditions of the island were ideal for the cultivation of coconut
palms, he returned with the intention of turning it into a plantation, but he also brought
germs and viruses with him to which the Sentinelese were not accustomed, decimating their population
and convincing them that those strange people who arrived from the sea would only bring
misfortune.
Because of their lack of defenses from their immune system, diseases common in any other
part of the world such as the flu and the measles are deadly.
Not to mention new strains such as the coronavirus, increasing the likelihood of an epidemic to
annihilate them.
This together with the fact that they live in a perpetual iron age, without knowledge
of farming and having discovered fire only a few years ago makes them the most vulnerable
society on the planet according to the global movement for the rights of indigenous peoples
called Survival International.
Seeing the hostility of this tribe towards strangers, the Indian authorities banned anyone
from approaching the island within a 5-kilometer radius in 2005, however, nothing is more tempting
than the forbidden.
Despite the fact that anyone who has set foot on its shores has ended up dead or close to
death, there are still brave daredevils... or perhaps fools who seek direct contact with
a tribe that has made it clear that it wants nothing to do with the outside world.
Even the Indian authorities disclaim any responsibility for the death of any reckless tourist.
The most recent case of a person killed by the Sentinelese is that of 27-year-old American
Christian preacher, John Allen Chau who wanted to contact this dangerous tribe to spread
the word of God.
In his diary, he tells how he was secretly planning this trip and how he managed to approach
the inhabitants of the island a couple of times offering them gifts until a child shot
him with an arrow which, to his good fortune, struck his bible.
He ran away terrified to take refuge again in the boat of the fishermen who illegally
brought him there.
One would think that this would be enough to make him reconsider, but nevertheless he
decided to return.
The fishermen, who would later be arrested, watched from a distance as arrows rained down
on the young preacher.
He was dragged away by the aborigines with a rope tied around his neck.
Later, the Indian authorities tried to find the body of the deceased missionary by flying
over the island by helicopter, but their attempts were in vain.
Yaifo, the headhunters
In the remote area of the central mountain range of Papua New Guinea lives one of the
few tribes that has no contact with modern civilization because of their location.
Everything we know about them is thanks to the famous English explorer and adventurer
Benedict Allen who managed to visit them when he was a young man of 26 years.
The so-called Yaifo are a tribe that lives in the depths of a crocodile-infested jungle.
They are warriors that Allen describes as men of strong bodies and intimidating appearance,
with feathered garments and bone ornaments that emphasize their appearance.
They perform intimidating dances with their bows and spears that strike fear into the
hearts of anyone who witnesses it and are feared for practicing "Headhunting", a tradition
where they cut off the heads of their fallen enemies to keep as trophies.
Allen 30 years after his first visit decided to return to check the progress of this tribe.
He wanted to see how the then children had grown.
With this in mind, the now 57 year old husband and father rented a helicopter to take him
to an abandoned station called Bisorio and then go into the jungle.
The last sign of life he gave during this trip was a twitter post with his picture saying:
“Marching off to Heathrow.
I may be some time (don't try to rescue me, please - where I'm going in Papua New Guinea
you won't ever find me you know...)” Without telephone or GPS, his location was
impossible to find and after several days where his family received no sign of him,
a missing person alert was issued...
Although Allen was an experienced and very skilled explorer, able to survive in any environment,
accidents happen.
He could have been injured or directly attacked by Yaifo themselves.
Luckily, he was rescued a few days later and taken to the nearest hospital on suspicion
of having contracted malaria and dengue fever.
The variety of cultures that existed and those that are still alive today is impressive.
Despite their strange rituals and hostility, it is undeniable how interesting they are.
Whether they perform strange dances or collect human skulls, we will be here to tell you
about them, at Copernicus's Galaxy.