BBC’s ‘Tribal Wives’
by Ghislain
Following the success of Bruce Parry’s ‘Tribe‘ series, the BBC is back with another anthropological style series: ‘Tribal Wives’. This time British women from a variety of backgrounds are sent to live with different tribes to experience the life of tribal women, including the Kuna in Panama, Waorani in Ecuador, Afar in Ethiopia, and Himba in Namibia.
The programme is an interesting insight into tribal life, but mainly focuses on the British women themselves, rather than highlighting the problems that tribal peoples are facing.
Survival works with both the Waorani and the Himba who face real threats: the Waorani from oil exploration and logging, and the Himba from a proposed dam which will flood their lands. The programmes are on BBC 2 at 9pm on the following dates:
Episode 1: 18 June - Kuna in Panama
Episode 2: 25 June - Waorani in Ecuador
Episode 3: 2 July - Afar in Ethiopia
Episode 4: 9 July - Himba in Namibia
Further info at: www.tribalwives.com
June 27th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Wow
Living outside the UK, and not having access to BBC2, I was not aware of this really interesting programme, Tribes.
Coming from an Anthropological background, I find these programmes of great interest. Thanks survival for informing me of this programme, i will try find a way of seeing it one way or another!!
June 30th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
The programme was occasionally complementary about the Huaorani hunting skills and resilience. Yet the overall impression was that of a circus where Huaorani culture was portrayed as simple and backward. The opportunity to strengthen the idea of respect for indigenous cultures was therefore lost as the production team preferred to let the romantic element flourish to its fateful conclusion. The programme was badly produced and lacked a sensitive approach to Huaorani culture.
The BBC and/or the other production organisations involved should apologize and compensate the Huaorani for any damages.
The programme undoubtedly provided important exposure for the Huaorani community of Bameno, which is under threat from encroaching loggers and oil companies. However, the objective of the programme, which was according to the BBC to give UK audiences a real insight into how tribal women really live and their hopes and fears, was superseded by an ill-conceived romance.
Although no one can blame Karen for becoming the object of affection for one of the community members, it was the way this romance was allowed to continue which resulted in an ill-fated ‘tribal’ wedding. The show finished with Karen saying goodbye to her hosts and Huaorani husband, Ewenginto, who said in parting ‘I will live alone until she comes back’. Karen, a successful businesswoman with two children, said that would be ‘extremely unlikely’.
This suggests that the original objective of the programme was poorly constructed. It was irresponsible to send a single-woman into the forest with the intention of acting as a ‘tribal wife’ to live with an indigenous community where single-men were surely going to get the wrong idea. The emphasis of the programme resulted in Karen essentially being groomed for a tribal live. For Ewenginto who respected and admired Karen’s efforts, this simply demonstrated what a great catch Karen would be.
The wedding conducted towards the end of Karen’s stay was very much a real wedding for Ewenginto and the community. The producers should have foreseen any complications and delicately prevented this from happening. One gets the feeling that the whole romance was spun as long as possible in order to create an intriguing and novelty programme. It would appear that the Huaorani community may have been misled about the real intensions of the show.
Karen was very up-set when she left as was her new Huaorani husband. It would seem that it was the error of the production team and the translators who misinformed Karen about what was happening which led to the wedding.
The programme also paid little respect to Huaorani culture as Karen made insensitive remarks about the community not having anything to worry about such as a mortgage. In an interview she also said that ‘the business of the tribe was gathering and hunting for food’. Comments like this demonstrate the insensitive and patronising way in which the visitors treated the community.
It is worth remembering that indigenous communities like this one are currently embroiled in a multi-billion dollar law suit against Chevron-Texaco for the latter’s role in contaminating a substantial area of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Defending the Amazon rainforest and cultural identity is no picnic.
July 17th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Tribal Wives…I am very disappointed in this show:
1) So far, 3 episodes have included female castration and not once has anyone raised the feminist issue of removing most of a woman’s sexual pleasure through this act - what is wrong with these ‘liberated Western women’ who haven’t asked this question?!
2) Why are all tribes visited so far a) patriarchal and b) 100% heterosexual?
There are so many more diverse tribes than the ones shown on this program. I am very disappointed with the research and narrow views on this show.
July 18th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I was the Series Producer on Tribal Wives, and firstly must say that I think Survival International is a fantastic organisation. However I am deeply disappointed and surprised by Guy Edward’s blog comments. There are too many points to quibble with but let me put a few things straight:
This series was always focussed primarily on the 6 western women- that was the brief of the program. It was never intended to be an “anthropological film”, but I hope that it does broach anthropological issues in a manner which engages a mainstream audience. The response from the public has been very positive, and it has reached over 2 million viewers on every episode.
One thing that the Production team was deeply proud of was the rapport and mutual respect that was evident on every shoot. Every community we went to understood what our series intended to do and were very willing participants. At the end of every shoot we left with that rapport not simply intact – but deeply enhanced. This was a relationship built on mutual trust and co-operation.
Guy Edward’s main grip is the issue of the “marriage”. He seems to think that the production team should have decided what happened and effectively taken control. In other words we should have imposed “our” sense of order on the Waorani and dictated what happened. This undermines everything he states about respect for the Waorani, and totally disempowers them.
This film was primarily about Karen’s journey. I have a huge respect for how she dealt with the whole process. She made it very clear of the contemporary dangers that face the Waorani and the situation with Oil prospectors/loggers. It was I think a very moving and poignant moment in the film – that highlighted the fact that this was no “untouched idyll” but a place that was under threat . Yes she admired many of the aspect of their life, but she also made it very clear that their life “was no picnic” as Guy Edward’s states. The extensive use of subtitles also allowed the Waorani to state their opinions directly. Their comments on their present/future were also deeply telling.
This series has achieved what no other that I know of: Giving a glimpse of women’s lives in communities across the world, brought this to a huge mainstream audience and raised some big questions in the process. Whether that was Female Genital Mutilation or threats of Loggers – the series never set out to give the answers but has I hope help to bring the debates to a wider audience.
July 24th, 2008 at 10:33 am
whilst i can appreciate the perspective of the other commentators here, i wanted to commend you Mr Maxwell on what was overall an excellent programme, truly outstanding compared to most of the dross on television. i found myself close to tears many times; i have never been so affected by a TV show. it made me reflect deeply not only on our current existence but on the colonising history of Europe and how much of value must have been lost in thoughtless invasions. it is incredibly important for Western audiences to learn about these cultures.
August 23rd, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Thank you Joseph Maxwell (Series Producer on Tribal Wives) for your response. I admit my criticism of the wedding part of the Huaorani episode of Tribal Wives was a little hasty. Having spoken to a leading anthropologist on the Huaorani, Laura Rival, it would seem the Huaorani conduct wedding festivals on a regular basis, some of which are not always ‘official’. The wedding in the show was therefore a mock wedding for both parties. However, this does not do away with claims made by more than one organisation working with the Huaorani and other indigenous peoples, that the show was at times manipulative, and unfairly depicted community members as backward.
The overbearing emphasis on the romance resulted in a missed important opportunity to demonstrate how some Huaorani communities are adapting to the threats posed by illegal logging and the oil industry. Although Karen was clearly overwhelmed with the resilience of the Huaorani community, the connection between ensuring the longevity of Huaorani culture and protection of their forests was not persuasively made.
What should have been emphasized is the fact that Huaorani communities and particularly women are beginning to successfully challenge some of the negative outside pressures facing them. By establishing ecotourism ventures, the Huaorani and other indigenous groups are not only developing key strategies to protect their land and families, but are creating commercially viable means to reinforce their cultural identity.
For example, Huaorani women and girls are generating extra sources of income through selling handicrafts to tourists. This extra cash helps assert community ownership over their territory and sends a strong message to those keen to exploit Huaorani lands that they are more independent and better placed to resist bribes.
More exposure of this Huaorani strategy should have given rise to a dialogue on how Karen’s own daughters are growing up in a fast changing and interconnected world, where our aspirations and everyday choices will become increasingly affected by energy and climate security. If these Huaorani families can adapt their lives to outside pressures, what excuse do we have in the West not to do the same? Some of the oil western companies seek is after all very near to Huaorani territory, such as underneath the Yasuni National Park. If the next generation want a car, and little progress is made on alternative fuels, the Huaorani and their territory could be devastated.
How ironic that our insatiable thirst for oil can have a disastrous effect on indigenous communities exercising not only sustainable livelihoods, but also providing essential environmental and climatic services for the world through protecting their forests.
Climate change and resource scarcity are upon us. Indigenous peoples are arguably some of the best qualified groups to help us adapt to life in a carbon constrained and finite world. This is what the show should have hit home, not some jungle book version of a Club Med romance.
September 13th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
I think several people, mainly Hannah and Guy, are missing the point of this show and nitpicking for no solid reason. It’s quite amazing to get an invitation into the lives and daily routines of these tribes, many of which I’ve never even heard of.
Coming from a history and political science background, I can only applaud the premise of the show. The episode that Guy was so upset with was possibly one of my favorites. It was amazing to give us a look into the community of the tribe and it’s wonderful to see how open and understanding and accepting they are to outsiders.
If Guy can’t get over the fact of the marriage, which I thought was absolutely wonderful considering in one month the tribe completely adopted her and would be willing to admit her into their tribe regardless of her place of birth or skin color, was amazing to witness.