CFTV Commission Notice
One of the pieces I have in the works is about a lion who visits an isolated tribe of zebra to conduct anthropological studies. Equidpological? Anyway, that's coming in the future.
This is an introductory piece to set the stage for that story, and is not written by me, but rather by the story's suggestor, Ripper Equidae. He also writes, so do check him out if you enjoyed this :)
Dear Mr. Jameson,
Thank you once again for attending the meeting to discuss your proposal of a documentary following indigenous tribes of the world which you entitled "The Hidden World of Tribes" (working title). It was most educational to hear some of the examples you gave and the board promptly decided to conduct their own research to see if we could find further examples that you perhaps had not detailed (or indeed, may have even heard of).
We're pleased to inform you that our investigations were fruitful and as such, we have recruited further explorer presenters like yourself to film a series of this documentary consisting of twelve episodes. In addition, we have managed to allocate you all at least two tribes to document so you will be better situated to draw comparisons between our culture, theirs and each other's.
The production team has assigned yourself the largest share of work (to reflect your creative status and overall stake in this commission). You will be covering five of the twelve tribes yourself. Further details will follow after your first filming, which will take place with the people of the Punda Milia tribe in northern Kenya. As a lion, your ancestry can be traced back to the African continent several thousand years and you should be the best phenotypically adapted of our explorers for this assignment. This is not an indigenous group you covered in your presentation to the board, so we now provide below an overview and background information on the Punda Milia that our scouts and contacts manage to gather.
The Punda Milia_are an all-male group of the endangered subspecies _Equus Grevyi (Grévy's Zebra) consisting of approximately 50-60 individuals. Equus Grevyi tend to be larger in stature than even our own familiar equids and have an insatiable desire to roam the largest geographical area possible compared to any other tribe we discovered. Being an all-male group, they do not follow the typical social structure of many species, where social groups would consist of both genders. Obviously the species is not yet extinct, so some contact with females must occur, but we are uncertain as to when, where and how this takes place. Their reasons for existing in this format are currently unknown and as such, are something we hope you would discover whilst filming.
We have also learned that they are quite a spiritual and optimistic people, believing strongly in a natural balance and cultivating nature when possible. They prefer to gather berries, fruits, herbs and grasses to create meals, rather than hunt live prey. Even then, the tribe prefers to seek insect life as sustenance before commencing a full hunt. They have adapted well to this primarily herbaceous diet, however, we will supply you with rations due to your own species requirement of the essential amino acid taurine which will be lacking in this environment. We of course expect you to try their food at some point during filming, but you need not (and should not) eat this for the entire time.
Interestingly within their spirituality, the Punda Milia do not hold many creatures or deities in high regard. Rather, items or symbols carry more significance and appear to reflect aspects of life. Our scouts discovered that of particular interest to the Punda Milia is a fabled item they call "mkuki wa usiku wa manane" or - literally translated - "spear of midnight". They were unable to discover more information during their brief visits and our anthropological contacts could return nothing as well, so this mystery lays before you to uncover if at all possible. The Shaman of the tribe informs and counsels on all natural, medical and spiritual matters. Their service is to the Chief or "alpha stallion" (Kuongoza in their language, meaning to guide or lead), his two advising counsel stallions and the tribe members. Thankfully, they unanimously agreed to host you for this documentary!
In general they appear a friendly people and are happy to talk to outsiders, indeed they seem to have accepted that they must do so with others in order to survive. There are of course matters that are more personal or involved with tribe life that are less forthcoming, hopefully these will be revealed to you during your time filming as you gain their trust and respect. They are more knowledgable about the world and our culture than we might at first give them credit for, but we know so little about theirs. It is our hope that your documentary will help to expose this and extend the olive branch of the world to the indigenous peoples featured in each episode.
Good luck, and happy filming.
Sincerely,
Rachel Kirkstone
Senior Director and Chair of Production for CFTV