Mark and Olly and Cultural Anthropology

http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Mark_and_Olly

Thanks to my DVR, I have been fortunate enough to have watched the last two series that they have done - The Kombai Tribe and then the Mek Tribe. And now they just finished their third Machigenga Tribe. I so enjoy watching their show, simply because I sooo wanted to become a cultural anthropologist but was told that you can't do much with a Sociology degree at that time, so I changed gears.

As a very young kid, I had seen, on PBS, the documentary about the Yamamamo Tribe and was utterly fascinated by this amazing discovery and what it took to become one with these people, who knew little of the outside civilization beyond their forested jungle. I yearned to one day be one of those who helped discover, learn from, live among and also complete a documentary on such a tribe as the Yamamamo. Then years later, I had purchased a video about a tribe that had never heard the bible nor had their own language written out. And thought that would be amazing also - not only to help develop a tribe's own tongue but to also decipher it into a bible of their own. Even though I thought the bible thing was awesome, I was still more about the other cultural aspects of indegionous tribal life and what can the outside world learn from such a people, myself included!

But looking back at this dream and wishing for so many years that I had been able to really make it become a reality, I also realized that I probably would not have done as well as I gave myself credit, which is kind of sucky to say, but I know, deep down, was true.

For one, I don't have the gift of language, and thus I would have had great difficulty in learning another indigenous' language. Secondly, I am basically deaf in one ear and have only 80% hearing in the other ear, thus the language automatically would be a challenge just on that level, and never mind just trying to learn and decipher a tribe's language. And lastly, I don't know that I would have been a strong enough woman, to enter these tribes and have come out of them making the same kind of strides that Mark and Olly had done nor other anthropologists have done before these two. Many of past anthropologists were men, and were more so widely accepted into an indigenous tribe than would a woman, like myself, would have. And I'd like to think that I would have been able to really have an impact on these amazing and hidden people, but reality strikes like a match, and the burning deep down says, that my match would have blown out long before it even reached it's point of burning down the stick itself.

So disheartening and yet something that I just could not ignore, every time I dreamed, day dreamed or desired such a role among such a people. Even though I know these things about myself, there is still a huge part of me that is extremely fascinated by such an experience that I am hoping in my next life that maybe I'll be granted to do something such as what I'm speaking of...but then maybe not...who knows...BIG SIGH...

So, my life hasn't really gone the way I thought it would, it's not bad at all, but I guess I had hoped for more and had tried to hold myself at a higher place than I was meant for... Perhaps the thought of so many kiddles made it to my stream of consciousness, at such a young age, as to divert me to this propensity of cultural learning, although I would not become a parent until my 40's. So, I'm not sure what all that says, but I still think about what it would be like to be a cultural anthropologist. I even became prompted to meet with the head of the Anthropology department and talk with him about my working in this area of a degree and seeing what it would take to get to where I was looking and wanting to go...But that didn't go any where...

I ended up working with students on the Chico State campus instead. Okay, that in itself is it's own cultural anthropological arena. So, as I look back on my life thus far, I have been able to see
(in hindsight, of course) that I was getting myself into the anthropology of this one subculture, college students. And how...the group that Michael and I lead many were students on the fringe of society. They were the needy, the alcoholic, the gay, those that challenged the christian faith, the bipolar, the rebel, the okay to be called heathens, the has-been christian, with a few more 'normal' christian white america thrown in. So, I guess I can say, that I have been able to work in the cultural anthropological field - it just wasn't what I had in mind many, many, many years ago.

I used to get really angry about not having been able to be an anthropologist but within that anger, I also knew that I was and continue to be made to do something that I am not at all aware of...but that I need to be willing to have humility, continue to be vulnerable and willing to take on what comes my way despite what I desire. My desires are good and applaudible, but not that I was meant to do in this life time. It's taken me years to reach this conclusion and now I am finally okay with it and can move on from here.

I guess I can say that I continue to grow as a human being and continue to evolve, though it would be nice to know a lot more of the details, but that's not the way it apparently is suppose to be...At least in my case...