The 5 most isolated cultures on earth
Most of the planet is living in the current age of technology, even if the country itself is lacking in certain necessities, the people still have “some” access to things like mobile phones and the Internet. There are certain places within the more isolated regions of the world where people live so remotely that they haven’t even heard of electricity. Here are the 5 most isolated cultures on earth and how they survive with their primitive lifestyles. Please note that the groups on this list have either lived in isolation either through choice or circumstance, but whatever the reason they have developed at their own rate and haven’t been affected by the outside world in doing so.
1) Sentinel island
Even some of the most remote tribes around the world have been visited by people on rare occasions, but the Sentinelese who live on North Sentinel island in the Bay of Bengal have never had a single researcher or outsider of any kind stay with them and for good reason. The tribe is very aggressive and attacks anyone from outside the island on sight, using bows and spears which they have tried to fire at helicopters before.
Several people over the years have landed on the island, either by accident or on purpose, only to find themselves fighting for their lives, with the tribe being known to have killed several people through the years who were unlucky enough to find themselves there. As for how they survive it remains a bit of a mystery as no one has been able to ask them, though it is believed that due to the size of the island, it isn’t able to support a consistent supply of meat other than birds and fish.
2) Amazon tribes
The Amazon is officially home to the highest amount of isolated tribes on earth, with dozens of different groups living throughout the rainforest and spread across several countries, mainly Brazil, Bolivia, and Colombia. There are only seven recognized tribal reserves for these people but more than other 20 tribes have been discovered and contacted at least once. Most of them seem to be reasonably friendly to outsiders other than the tribes currently dealing with loggers trying to destroy their territories. Various bouts of fighting have taken place where the tribes attack and sometimes kill the occasional logger but unfortunately, they never seem to win overall.
The loggers normally end up hiring mercenaries and guns always beat bows and blowpipes. As for how they survive there the homes are normally woven sticks covered in large leaves, and their clothes are often made from fabrics woven from a variety of fibrous plants. Their food is the most varied of any isolated tribe as the jungle they call home hosts a huge variety of fruits, nuts, vegetables, and meats. For a closer look at what they normally have for dinner take a peak at this page “What do Amazon tribes eat”.
3) Papua New Guinea
This region is one of the most unexplored by people from the Western world as the thick jungle and mountainous terrain make it very difficult to explore safely. There are an estimated 45 tribes living in the following regions of the country: Brazza-Digul, Derewo, Foja, Gusawi, Kokiri, Lengguru, Manu, Teriku, and Waruta.
Some of these tribes are yet to be contacted but a small portion have already been visited by outsiders. In 2004 a documentary was made by the BBC and hosted by Sir David Attenborough following his first contact with the Biami tribe. Their diet and clothes are typical for tropical jungle regions and consist of large amounts of fruit and wild meat like possums, tree kangaroo, and various bird species.
4) Malaysia – Batek Tribe
This tribe numbers just over 1,500 and lives within the Taman Negara National Park of Peninsular Malaysia. They live a hunter-gatherer lifestyle and have chosen to remain isolated from the outside world, preferring their simpler and easier way of life. Since the Batek tribe lives off the land, this means they frequently relocate to another area of the jungle after the local resources have run out. Their homes are normally quite minimal since they have to move them a lot and they don’t require anything substantial as the climate provides the warmth they need.
The culture is a very peaceful one that has some interesting beliefs. They live in groups of about 10 families within the same region and don’t believe in personal property rights, instead seeing the people living there as caretakers of the land. They also consider all adults to be equal and so don’t have any leaders within their tribe. When a dispute happens the people involved talk it out privately, and if it isn’t resolved then they state their grievances in front of the rest of the tribe who offer suggestions on how to resolve it. If the problem gets out of hand the people involved are ordered to leave the camp in opposite directions until they cool down, when they come back and go through the process again.
5) India
The Jarawas are another tribe that live in isolation out of choice and live in small camps spread out across the Andaman islands in India. The tribe lives by hunting and gathering but mostly by fishing to provide the majority of their food. The islands only have limited space so hunting large game is considered a special occasion as doing it too much would wipe out animal populations from the island.
The tribe lives mostly off the sea which also provides some red meat in the form of turtles, and when combined with the wild pigs and monitor lizards that inhabit the island they manage to get a reasonably varied diet. The only things they lack are vegetables and grain as the forest makes growing conditions for them difficult, but what they lack in veg and grain is made up by gathering fruit, nuts, and honey from the trees. The tribe has learned that burning a certain type of tree sap under a hive will greatly calm the bees and allow them to harvest the honey safely.
