Tribes of nomadic people who live in large cities, they could fashion clothes and weapons out of the waste that big cities generate, they could worship the neon gods who provide them with the food, clothing and shelter that they need to survive. Ofcourse these tribes would be nocturnal so that normal people would never cross paths with them, they would solve the problems of feral animals and waste as they would recycle things that can be found anywhere in a big city.
They would live in an urban paradise praying to their gods before a big hunt, dressed in their traditional costumes made from blue and white plastic bags, road cone head dresses and necklaces of the finest coke cans. They would forage amongst the bountiful groves of trash cans for delectable morsels that can be found there. During the day they would retire to their cardboard and plastic bag houses under the protective overhang of a bridge painted gold by the rising sun.-- Gulherme, Nov 18 2002 Here's one of your heroes..... http://www.ociw.edu...s/20_mud_people.jpg [normzone, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] urban tribes could easily hunt. http://www.facebook...c945a3&id=666582522 [ye_river_xiv, Jun 30 2009] London already has "Tribes of nomadic people" who "fashion clothes and weapons out of the waste that big cities generate".-- hippo, Nov 18 2002 I think that's the point Gulherme's trying to make (not sure, though).
It does sound like a combination of London's homeless with the worst of its drunk students. (Not that I ever had a large yellow police cone in the corner of my room. No, not me. Had a flashing light on the top, too.)-- st3f, Nov 18 2002 Queue for a film...?-- st3f, Nov 18 2002 They could have been making this into a Survivor in the City series.-- FarmerJohn, Nov 18 2002 I'm not talking about common bums here but tribes of nomadic people who live in a city as Pygmies would live in the congo or Dyacks would live in the forests of Borneo, totally integrated into the environment, they wouldn't be outcasts from society but sociteys within themselves.-- Gulherme, Nov 18 2002 Stick a shell of a computer housing on your head covered in graffiti, smother yourself in rat turds, run around waving a Gin bottle in the air and scream at the neon Gods then retreat to the safe haven of the gutter...reminds me of the canals of the East end of London.-- skinflaps, Nov 18 2002 Well if there was a tribe of hunter gatherers in the area they would probably stamp out this sort of behavior very quickly.-- Gulherme, Nov 18 2002 Chicago's 'StreetWise' newspaper clan?-- RayfordSteele, Nov 18 2002 Not certain anyone follows, bliss.-- RayfordSteele, Nov 18 2002 I think that alot of people who arn't stereotypical are placed in a certain group and labled as a stereotype by the media, the people then think thats what I am then thats how I should act.
A good example of this is the Lebonese comunity in Australian cities like Sydney, where the media blames alot of gang related incidents on the Lebonese, this gives them some sort of permission to behave the way they do becuase its not really their fault because they are Lebonese. It only leads to more incidents.
If everybody started changing negative stereotypes to more positive ones then alot of negative traits would dissapear as the people placed in those groups by public oppinion realise that they are more important to socitey than they previously realised.
People are amazed at the way that tribal people can be self sufficient living in a forest or a desert, they don't need to buy anything or work, but when people choose this lifestyle in the city they are looked down on, and have labels placed on them.
Writing this I was reminded of that scene in American beauty with the "dancing" plastic bag, most people would see that and think that its a peice of rubbish, but the guy with the camera saw it and just saw the beauty.-- Gulherme, Nov 19 2002 [ Gulherme ] have you ever read shadows in the sun by Wade Davis ? or do you know of the Penan ?..investigate.-- skinflaps, Nov 19 2002 No I can't say I have but I'll look into it.-- Gulherme, Nov 19 2002 You're describing my lifestyle. BONE-- mongmaster, Jun 08 2004 I've often fashioned some quite lovely arrow heads from shards of broken windows and bottles.
I've never worn plastic bags or hunted feral animals though.-- ye_river_xiv, Jun 30 2009 //Writing this I was reminded of that scene in American beauty with the "dancing" plastic bag, most people would see that and think that its a peice of rubbish, but the guy with the camera saw it and just saw the beauty// Just an aside, but isn't it a little self indulgent of [Gulherme] to tell us that he reminds himself of the beautiful plastic-bag guy in American Beauty?
I don't really want hunter-gatherers in my town, in fact I'd prefer it if we kept the hunting and gathering strictly to the countryside. What is there to hunt in your average metropolis? Pigeons? Drunks? Homeless people?
And where will these tribes live? In the park? What about their waste products? Will they be taken care of by a further set of "hunter gatherers" that live in even more squalid conditions? The notion of the "noble savage" is just as outdated and offensive as the notion of the "savage savage" whether the savages in question are urban or arboreal ones. A plastic bag, this is not.
Oh, and in writing this anno, I am reminded of the great Shakespeare, who everyone thought was brilliant, and who did great spelling, words and fullstops.-- zen_tom, Jun 30 2009 //The notion of the "noble savage" is just as outdated and offensive as the notion of the "savage savage" // Maybe a new category, "sauvages savant(e?)s"?-- coprocephalous, Jun 30 2009 In a sense we actually are urban hunter gatherers, or rather gatherers, many of us anyway. We tend not to grow much of our own food but go to the supermarket or shop online and gather it, along with many other things we use. We don't hunt so much, though we do pursue the likes of bargains or obscure objects of desire avidly.Concerning yer actual gathering, well, obviously i do that and others do too.-- nineteenthly, Jun 30 2009 random, halfbakery