As Americans with our vast wealth and technology, we often stereotype hunter-gat

Question

As Americans with our vast wealth and technology, we often stereotype hunter-gatherers like the Bushmen as 'primitive.' But how long could you do it? No running water, no automobiles, and (gasp!) no cell phones! Most of the skills and things you currently have would be utterly useless living off the land. How do the Bushmen do it? What skills would you have learn to survive by hunting and gathering?

What did Ongka mean when he said "without pigs, you are rubbish!"? How are pigs used in Kawelka? What is Ongka's obligation regarding his pigs, and how does carrying out this obligation make him a successful Big Man?

Explanation / Answer

1. We are in a society where people have long forgotten any physical work and started talking about doing smart work. There is no surprise when the famous phrase 'Couch Potatoes' was added to the dictionary. People have remote control for everything, people have a virtual world and they live in an artificial world where all live an artificial life. They have long forgotten a world full of natural surroundings with flora and fauna. People in the city are under tremendous pressure and they live an unhappy life. If all the technology stops working all of a sudden most of the city dwellers will undergo a great shock and they will become mentally handicapped.
Bushmen still carry the basic instinct and live harmoniously with nature. They know all the nook and corner of their surroundings including the sounds of the animals and the songs of the birds. They can adopt quickly and fight back to threats. If city dwellers call them primitives, they are ignorant people.
To live like a Bushmen, one needs to know one's surrounding well, learn to catch fish in the river and make canoes. One should learn to make fire without technology and last but not least should learn the sounds of animals and birds.
2. Ongka belonged to Kawelka tribe and pigs are very important thing in all the tribes. These tribes have a strange habit of getting less amount of pigs as loan and repay more pigs, because the word moka means interest. So getting pigs on loan is also called moka.
Ongka got 400 pigs as loan and he planned to give 600 back. He requested his 4 wives and his tribesmen to work hard because if they are able to give more pigs they can be proud of their tribe too. Ongka used to tell people that without pogs, a man is rubbish. The day of the moka was fast approaching and one of the big man belonged to Tongka tribe died and Ongka was blamed for the death, but Ongka along with few of his tribesmen who were married to Tongka tribe convinced them that they didn't do it. Finally, he was able to send 600 pigs, $10,000 Australian dollars, 12 cassowaries, 8 cows and a motorbike in a truck. Ongka shared his joy with everyone and exclaimed that he won and his was the best moka.

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