CURRENT EVENTS | TECHNOLOGY | CULTURE
High-Speed Internet Reaches Remote Amazon Tribe for the First Time
Musk’s Starlink addicts isolated Amazonian tribe to pornography and social media.
Nine months ago, the Indigenous Marubo tribe of Brazil received their first Starlink antennas donated by humanitarian Allyson Reneau, connecting one of the last isolated cultural groups to the rest of the world via high-speed satellite internet.
Recently, journalists from The New York Times traversed miles into the Amazon rainforest to see what has changed in the day-to-day routine of the Marubo people. For better or worse, elders reveal a mixture of new updates since initial set-up in September 2023. From positives such as being able to contact time sensitive life-saving services, to a declining interest for traditional practices in the tribe’s youth, it is undeniable the sudden introduction of technology has left a permanent mark on the culture.
Who are the Marubo people?
The Marubo people are a 2000-member Indigenous tribe in Brazil, living in villages deep in the depths of the Amazon rainforest. Before the addition of internet, their days heavily consisted of essential activities like hunting for food, fishing along the Ituí river and planting crops. Others would pursue long-established activities; making body paint from jenipapo berries, shell or teeth adornments and taking care of the occasional pet monkey. They speak their own language, take ayahuasca to connect spiritually, cook, eat and sleep together. Additionally, as if another nod to their group cohesion every member of the tribe has the same last name ‘Marubo’.
How has it been going? What challenges are they facing today?
It was said by tribes-member Tsainama Marubo that Starlink initially brought the tribe many beneficial pleasures. They connected with family members that had moved elsewhere on social media platforms, informed themselves of people in other parts of the world, earth’s topography, jobs, lifestyles.
Over time though, the all too familiar negatives of hyper connectivity and digital gratification set in. Gossip in group chats began to seriously threaten the delicate social cohesion required to sustain a traditional collaborative lifestyle. Additive social networks were used to swap fetishized pornography, and probably worst of all, exposure to such online sexual vices increased aggression level in some young tribesmen.
Without the gradual acclimation to modernity stretching decades the rest of the world had, the internet hit the Marubo’s sheltered psyches unapologetically, creating drastic changes from the inside out.
Is it possible to go back to traditional ways in light of troubles?
Starlink was the ultimate Pandora’s box, the Marubo were taken out of the traditional matrix which was so familiar to them for hundreds of years and thrown into an identity crisis of dopamine and endless entertainment. There is no putting all that information back where it came from, like us they are doomed into a future of reminiscing on the old days before smartphones and artificial intelligence, because that’s it; those days are not coming back.
Instead of backtracking or eradication, elders decided to implement a system for damage control, setting limits on internet availability to two hours in the morning, two hours at night and all day Sunday.
What can we take away from this?
The internet influences every part of our lives, even the most intimate details like how we have sex and what our eventual interests become. Excess curious exposure is not always for the best as it is evident humans are uncontrollably impressionable at all ages, especially during adolescence.
Be mindful of what you take in online on a daily basis as it will be absorbed eventually and take an abstract form in one’s life. If you’re a parent, there is importance in sheltering what your children can see and limiting how much time they ultimately spend online.
Remember that up until two decades ago, these little black boxes were replaced by authentic socialization. We love socializing online because the instant gratification has shifted our attempts at fulfillment to the digital realm, although no amount of time online will make up for a real life conversation. Or a real life interaction. Or a real life friend.
Hey you- yes, you! Thanks for reading!
