"Unique and/or
Interesting Communities"
A community is a social unit of any
size that shares common values. Although embodied or face-to-face communities
are usually small, larger or more extended communities such as a national community,
international community and virtual community are also studied.
There are a few communities that
can be seen as unique, probably because of their culture, tradition or their
way of surviving. There are communities in the world that are not that known to
scientists because they are just tribes that were still not found or discovered
and still not have modernized with the rest of the world.
The
Surma People
The Surma tribe of Ethiopia avoided all
Western contact for years. Though they were well-known by Westerners
for their giant lip
plugs, they wanted nothing to do with any sort of government. The
Surma lived in groups of a few hundred, and carried on with their humble cattle
ranching for centuries while colonization, World Wars, and struggles for
independence were going on all around them.
The first people to hold a conversation with the Surma people were
a few Russian doctors in the 1980s, thought by the tribesmen to be walking dead
because of their skin color. One of the few fixtures of modernity adopted
by the Surma is the use of AK-47s to protect their livestock.
The Jackson Whites
During the 1700s, European settlers
wrapped up their colonization of North America’s East Coast. By this point,
every tribe between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi River had been added
to the catalogue of known peoples. Every tribe except for one, that is.
In the 1790s, a previously
unheard-of tribe of Native Americans walked out of the woods just thirty-five
miles (56 km) from New York City. Somehow they had managed to avoid all contact
with the settlers, despite some of the largest battles of both the Seven Years’
War and the Revolutionary War being waged in their backyard. They became known
as the Jackson Whites, as they had a light skin color and were thought to have
been descended from “Jacks” (slang for the British).
The
Vietnamese Ruc
The
Vietnam War brought unprecedented bombing to previously isolated regions. After
one particularly enormous American bombing raid, the North Vietnamese soldiers
were shocked to see a group of tribesmen emerge from the jungle.
This was the Ruc
tribe’s first contact with technologically advanced people. Due to the jungle
damage, the Ruc decided to stay on in modern Vietnam rather than return to
their traditional homes. But the tribal values picked up over hundreds of years
soon clashed with the communist Vietnamese government, leading to mutual
animosity.
The
Brazilian Tribes
The Brazilian government has been
trying to find out how many people live in the isolated Amazon regions, for
reasons of population control. Its aircraft therefore fly regularly over the
jungle with photographic equipment, hoping to locate and count the people
below. The constant flying does get results—but sometimes in surprising ways.
In 2007, a routine low-flying photo operation suddenly came
under fire by arrows shot from the bows of a previously unknown tribe. And then
in 2011, a satellite sweep managed to find a few specks in a corner of the
jungle no one thought was habitable: it turns out that the specks were people.
The New Guinea Tribes
Somewhere in New Guinea, there most
likely remain dozens of languages, cultures and tribal customs still unknown to
modern man. But due to the largely uncharted terrain, and the unknown character
of tribal inhabitants amid reports of cannibalism, rural New Guinea is seldom
explored. While new tribes are discovered every so often, many expeditions that
depart with the purpose of tracking them down are cut short—and sometimes they
simply go missing.
In 1961, for example, Michael
Rockefeller set forth with the intention of finding some of the lost tribes.
Rockefeller, an American heir to one of the largest fortunes in the world, was
separated from his group and is thought to have been captured and eaten by
tribesmen.
The Sentinelese
The Sentinelese are a tribe of about 250 people who live on
North Sentinel Island, between India and Thailand. We don’t know much more than
that, because every time the Sentinelese receive a visitor, they greet him with
a hail of arrows.
A few peaceful encounters in the late 1960s gathered most of
what we now know about their culture. Coconuts delivered to the beaches as a
gift were eaten, rather than planted. Live pigs were shot with arrows, and then
buried without being eaten. The most well-received items were red buckets,
which were promptly taken away by the Sentinelese sentinels—though similar
green buckets were left behind.
Anyone trying to land on the islands today should write out
his will first. A National Geographic team was forced to turn back after the
lead team member got an arrow through his thigh, and two local guides were
killed.
The Sentinelese also have a reputation for being able to
survive natural disasters—unlike many of the modern people who live in similar
environments. For instance, these coast-dwelling people successfully escaped
the effects of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, which wreaked havoc in Sri Lanka
and Indonesia.
Others strive to be with peace with
the environment and nature. They try to be efficient in their energy usage, and
even they are the ones who make their energy through environment-friendly ways;
Solar Panels, Wind Turbines and Hydro Power Plants.
1 Milagro
Milagro is a sustainable community
in Tuscon, Arizona. It is an award-winning cohousing community of twenty-eight,
energy efficient, passive solar, adobe homes on a 43-acre site just minutes
from downtown Tucson, Arizona.
2 Path To Freedom
Path To Freedom is a sustainable
community/urban farm in Pasadena California they have found a unique way to
live in which they support themselves fully through organic farming, and even
produce their own energy right in the city.
3 Sewanee Creek
Sewanee Creek is a small town
community striving for ecologically sound, economically advantageous
development aimed at promoting sustainability in the rugged mountains of
Tennessee.
4 Mountain Mission
Mountain Mission is an off the grid
sustainable community in North Carolina its goal is to become completely
sustainable and yet share how to live as a positive impact community in the
Applachians.
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