Environment: Struggle for Survival

An adventurous Briton crusades to save endangered tribes

After centuries of living in utterly primitive conditions, the Mentaweian Indians of Siberut Island off Indonesian Sumatra faced a battery of culture shocks. First they got hold of guns to replace their bows and arrows and began shooting every bird and animal they saw, destroying the very wildlife on which they depended. Then these pagan tribesmen were themselves harassed by Muslim police, who cut their long, plaited hair and took away their beads. Worse yet, Filipinos and Japanese who were imported to work Siberut's newly opened...

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