The Return of the Tribe

When I saw the outline for this Channel Five programme, I was a bit dubious. Donal MacIntyre, instead of visiting far-flung tribes, brings 6 members of the Insect tribe from Papua New Guinea (PNG) to visit London.

To begin with, I felt guilty for smiling at the antics of the 6 tribespeople; but then I realised that they know how amusing they are. Having looked after Donal for a period last year, they know exactly how ridiculous outsiders look on their home turf. Not only that, but the people of Swagap seem to have brilliant senses of humour.

The part I found most awe-inspiring was when the Swagap Six (an easy abbreviation, not to be confused with the Birmingham Six) visited London for the first time. Their reaction was childlike; not meant in a patronising way, but in the way that London looked so incredible to me when I was a child. They were blank slates, experiencing the objective beauty of St Pauls Cathedral.

Every statement they uttered had its own profound touch; describing the statues as more real than they.

While the programme (the first of a number, I believe) was inspiration for me, filling me with a new found appreciation for the landscape I take for granted, I couldn't help but feel sadness for the Wagap Six. To show a man who must hunt pigs for days to feed his family, a supermarket full of food, seems hardly fair.

But this was juxtaposed with the most fantastical bit: one of the tribesmen in St Jame's Park, attempting to catch a squirrel, in order to: "put it on my head. So I can dance with it". The cheeky grin that accompanied the statement just made my evening.