A Royal Geographic Society photographer took this photo in Papua New Guinea in 1919.
The story attached to it was unfairly used to brand these men and others as "cannibals"
when human flesh consumption was limited to funerary rituals that weren't even always
practiced. It was decades before attempts were made to correct the exaggerations.
I really like when we see photographs of naked indigenous males. There are people in our society that are trying to erase any documentation that this was common in many indigenous cultures in warm climates. European and American missionaries and explorers have pressured these peoples to feel nakedness is unacceptable. This has, in some cases, destroyed the cohesiveness of the tribe! Something has definitely been lost!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree. In this case, the correction of false impressions did come, however late, but how do you undo cultural damage?
DeleteGenau wie die Regierung im Sudan, die nach der Unabhängigkeit Shorts und Kleider a die einheimischen Stämme verteilte und Nacktheit verbot. (“)
ReplyDelete