Could Humans Have Stayed in the Age of Tribes?

The topic of underdeveloped tribes throughout the world is one that has consistently plagued my mind for years. How can we be running in a world of satellites, fiber-optics, and electric cars while so many are still in the phase of hunter-gatherers?

Over on Quora, I recently had the privilege of answering a question similar to this one- Could humans have really stayed in a tribal mindset permanently? How did we manage to break free from this way of life and truly develop? This article seeks to be an update to that question, with the hopes of providing better detail, more accurate analysis, and some new knowledge I’ve gained along the way in pursuit of this answer.

In order to better understand this phenomenon, we are first going to direct our attention not to the past, but to a true modern phenomenon of civilization- The Sentinelese.

The Sentinelese are an almost completely uncontacted tribe that reside on North Sentinel island, just off the coast of India.

Very little is known about the people that live there, and estimates of their size have varied anywhere from 15–500 individuals, though most estimates are between 50 and 200 individuals. We cannot translate their language, we do not know what their daily lives are like aside from some vague and generalized details, and we cannot approach them safely.

It is speculated that this tribe has inhabited this island for 60,000 years, almost completely isolated from the rest of humanity. While we still haven’t been able to find out much, we do know that they still rely mostly on spears and bows and create only makeshift huts for shelter. They may use different types of spears for hunting, fishing, and self-defense, and they have a basic grasp of some arts, with observation showing that they sometimes dance and have engraved basic geometrical shapes into their weapons. Finally, but most importantly, they have been observed manipulating fire, but do not appear to know how to create it themselves; rather, they use fire when it is created in nature, like a lightning strike, and keep the flame alive for as long as possible.

The few run-ins we have had with them have mostly been rather violent. The Sentinelese are known for firing arrows at anyone approaching the shore, whether they are hostile or clearly shipwrecked. While there have been a few peaceful encounters, numerous people have died due to their attacks.

Now, if this name sounds familiar, it may be due to a recent reprisal of center-stage in the news. In 2018, John Allen Chau, an American Christian missionary, found out about these people and made an ultimately fatal decision- these people needed to hear the word of Jesus, and he was going to be the one to do it.

The resulting events, while expected, ended in tragedy, and Chau was found dead several days later.

There is a lot more to this tribe to be discussed, but this information is readily available with a quick Google-search. My aim here is to analyze and detail why they are still like this, and this topic is not a simple one with any straightforward answer.

Why are there still tribes in this age of mankind? What is holding them back, and what caused us to develop in the first place?

A very simplified version of this answer can be found in one crucial aspect that separates the hunter-gatherers from those who build empires: land mass.

This may seem like a vague generalization, but land mass may truly be the single largest contributor to development of populations. Having access to more land enables a population to lay down roots of agriculture. No longer do they have to constantly move from place to place in search of their next meals, they can finally begin to produce for themselves.

The problem with agriculture is simply how much room it takes up, with some estimates stating that we as a global population are currently farming about 50% of the total habitable land on Earth. With one out of every 2 acres being used just to farm and produce food, we truly need areas the size of continents to spread out and build in.

The problem, of course, then becomes simply a matter of location, and some tribes and regions simply are not conducive to an agricultural environment. North Sentinel Island, then, becomes a shining example of this- with an area of only 23 miles (37 km), agriculture exits the realm of possibility, leading to a paradigm of hunter-gatherer societies and a beacon of their constant stalemate against nature’s forces.

Now, in the past, I made the claim that agriculture allowed for more free time due to a lack of labor necessary for food production, leading to the creation of new jobs and eventual discoveries to drive technology forward. While this is true, I would like to elaborate on this a bit more, as well as add some new knowledge I’ve gained along the way.

Agriculture, by itself, does not necessarily reduce labor in a population- in fact, agriculture is massively labor-intensive and requires constant upkeep and change with each season and various weather patterns. What agriculture does do, however, is allow for a surplus of food. This surplus may eventually help a population through lean times, or it may just end up causing an eventual overproduction of food, leading to the ability of many of those working to finally go out and find some other work to do. This overproduction of resources may enable people to explore areas properly, build structures with better integrity, innovate current technologies, and create new technologies altogether.

While there are many more contributions still being researched even today, I wish to leave us with just this main point for today: Humanity could absolutely still be in the age of tribes were it not for our ability to tend crops and domesticate farm animals.

Thank you.