Entry 6

Are primitive cultures, like the Sawi, necessary in our present world?

No one can deny that we are drenched in a fast-evolving society, where technology has replaced the hands of the workers and where the most fundamental appreciation towards nature has been diminished. Now, primitive cultures are often treated as children’s bed time stories or another lecture on the Prehistoric Era, because people have became so myopic to the world they are living, that they have closed themselves from having a real “secular view”. And sometimes, it is necessary to look back to the most basic phase that the world has gone through, where spears and rocks were mainly used and fire didn’t come from stoves or matches. It is quite helpful to cleanse our eyes, our perspectives from the havoc, and ponder the radical in a rational view (though it might be quite complex). Be simple and look at the world one more time. Because of these primitive cultures, the Sawis, we are able to have a chance to look at different sides of the box: religion, tradition, culture, moral, symbols, and relationships. So, let’s turn off our ipods, pikachu volleyball games, minesweepers, or whatever, and look at the creations we have covered with our own hands.