Ciba Found Symp. 1977 ; (49): 5-20.

Some characteristics of tribal peoples.

Polunin I.

The study of health and disease in distinctive human groups is an important source of knowledge, and ultimately of understanding. Tribal societies are at the polar extreme from modernized communities. However, with the breakdown of isolation this distinctiveness is being eroded, slowly for genes, more rapidly for ideas and behaviour, and fastest for infective agents of disease. Though comtemporary tribal men cannot be equated with prehistoric men, they resemble them more than do modernized men. Therefore the study of tribal peoples not only widens the range of circumstances in which human adaptability is observed, it throws some light on the evolution of human diseases. This is particularly the case with regard to the study of 'diseases of modern life'. Tribal life is characterized by comparative physical and cultural isolation, simplicity, small group size, low population density and closeness to nature, both physically and conceptually. In spite of rapid change, which itself needs study, there are still situations where what is studied has shown little recent change. In a world where dissatisfaction with life and medicine grows in spite of unparalleled technical success, we should look again at tribal men. There is much to learn from each other's successes and failures.