Thursday, April 17, 2014
Secluded Population No More
Dr. Alan Rabinowitz's article describes his own personal journey to an Asian pygmy tribe known as the Taron. He interviews a man of the tribe named Dawi who is 39 years old. Dr. Rabinowitz learns that the Taron have been inbreeding for years since the tribe has been settled in a secluded mountain village. The tribe themselves wanted to maintain a "pure" race, but deformities, mental retardation, and insanity have become results of the inbreeding of the Taron. Now only a population of 12, the Taron have decided to stop producing offspring. The decision was made by the group after noticing the effect of the inbreeding throughout the years. Dawi is seen in the picture below:
An even more in depth analysis on the consequences of inbreeding can be read here.
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Inbreeding has been seen as taboo in many cultures for many years without the knowledge that we have today about the potential side effects. This type of story is the likely source of the feelings of inbreeding. Today, we know the scientific and genetic causes inbreeding and the problems that occur with it. It is strange to think that there are still tribes like the Taron that think inbreeding is a good idea.
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