Humiliation

We had hiked probably 5 hours traveling north from the Jamamadi village. A visitor who
had come to the village from the north had told our guides that we could borrow his
canoe, which he had hidden under a certain bush. Much to my surprise our guides were
able to find that canoe when we reached the Curia river. Unfortunately it was too small
for all of us. Bob and Baina took the canoe downstream, taking our baggage, and Bada
and I hiked to a rendezvous point further downstream, where we expected to find a
second canoe. We walked . . . and I learned that I, at my best, cannot keep up with an
indian in the jungle, even at his worst! At that time I hadn’t been out of the US Marines
for too many years but Bada nearly walked me to death in those two hours. Somehow, it
seemed so unnecessary to shame me in that way! At the end of our two-hour marathon
we waited an hour for the others to arrive in the canoe. Why couldn’t we have traveled at
a more reasonable pace so as to not leave me so embarrassingly worn out? Maybe Bada
knew something about the jungle that made him want to minimize our time on the trail.
Maybe he just wanted to be sure to be there before the others rrived with their canoe.

This wasn’t the first time my physical stamina left me humbled. A few years earlier I had
accompanied one of our new linguists on a trip to assess the suitability of a Karitiana
village that was being considered as an allocation for him and his wife. This man had
been a civil engineer – a real “softie – whereas I hadn’t been out of the US Marines very
long. I fully expected to carry my part of the load, and then some.

In the cool morning we hit the trail: a softie linguist, a malnourished guide, and a tough
former Marine. Within a few hours I, the tough former Marine, had dropped out with
heat exhaustion. The guide administered first aid, reviving me with cool water and fresh
pineapple. Then he added my pack to his. He and the “softie” linguist carried their share
of the load plus mine. Quite a showing!

Copyright © 2009 Richard A. Need

Humiliated 1