There is a tribe that resides on an island in northern Papua New Guinea that exists in completely different circumstances than we do as middle class Westerners. The food they eat, the way they communicate, their methods of child rearing, their justice system; all these things are vastly divergent from our cultural norms. In the weeks that I stayed in a village there, I was able to experience these cultural shifts of my western norms. These are the stories that I want to dwell on.
This poses an interesting topic of discussing based around the central question:
'How important are these cultural differences to our Western way of living?'
I had the privilege of living with the Sursurunga tribe in New Ireland. To me, the stories that reside with these people are unlike any stories we have heard here in the States. I was submersed in a culture that radically changed how I saw my own.
In the blog entries that follow this one I want to explore this tribe's methodologies and ideologies and analyze the worth of such beliefs to the common westerner. At this point I am unsure if there is any value in these foreign stories for an American but I want to explore it nonetheless.
For those interested, here is the trailer for the documentary I am making on this tribe. The stories outlined in the trailer are separate from those that I will be discussing in this blog. I aim to focus on the stories of my experiences as an American rather than the stories of this tribe's cultural history and Christianity.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Giant,
~Alan
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