Tasaday… who are they?

Tasaday, the today's stone age people, located in Mindanao, Philippines

A major discovery? An elaborate hoax? Is the hoax claim the real hoax?

The Tasaday made worldwide headlines in 1971 when the tiny group emerged from a rain forest in mountains of Mindanao, wearing leaves, carrying stone tools, professing no knowledge of agriculture, weapons, or words for war. The people told researchers they had thought the forest was the whole world and that they and their friends inside were the only people on earth. In 1986 two journalists entered into the forest and came out declaring that the Tasaday story was a fraud. They claimed that the people were really farmers from tribes living outside the forest who had been persuaded to take off their clothes, pick up stone tools, and move into caves in the forest as an elaborate hoax. Some anthropologists supported those accusations and a major circulation magazine later described the Tasaday as "one of the greatest hoaxes of all time", but other anthropologists till nowadays say that the Tasaday are authentic and the claim of a hoax was the real hoax. Nowadays this question is still unanswered.

 

Tasaday, the experimental/noise/tribal/postrock/industrial music band, located in Brianza, Italy

A major discovery? An elaborate hoax? Is the hoax claim the real hoax?

The Tasaday did not make worldwide headlines in 1982 when the not tiny group emerged from some humid villages in hills of Brianza, carrying metal, electric and electronic musical instruments, such as tubes, coils, amputed bass and chopper vox, and professing no knowledge. The people were talking about the sensation of Him who belongs to the dark and awakes at the day light, perceiving that nothing changes. In 1984, someone entered into the radio station where the Tasaday were playing their music, reading hermetic texts and playing their own parts, and wrote on the wall the sentence "Tasaday fucking poseur", claiming that the Tasaday story was a fraud. The wall writer claimed that the people had been persuaded to act as "the inexpressible thing" as an elaborate hoax. One journalist did not support those accusations and later, after a Tasaday live performance, on a major circulation magazine, he described the Tasaday as "the italian new Sex Pistols of the '80", saying that the Tasaday are authentic and the claim of a hoax was the real hoax. Nowadays the question is still unanswered.

 

 

Die Tasaday machten weltweit Schlagzeilen, als sie 1971 aus den Wäldern Mindanaos auf den Philippinen auftauchten, mit Blättern bekleidet, Steinwerkzeuge tragend, ohne Ahnung von Agrikultur, Waffen, kein Wort für Krieg, im Glauben, die Welt sei der Wald um sie, sonst gebe es keine Menschen. Die Ansicht tauchte auf, dass es sich hier um einen der grössten Medien-Stunts der Geschichte handle, es gab auch Spezialisten, die von der Authentizität des Stammes überzeugt waren. Die Frage der Echtheit der Tasaday ist bis heute nicht geklärt. Keine Schlagzeilen machten die italienischen Tasaday, als sie '82 aus den Hügeln über Brianza auftauchten, metallene Objekte, elektronische Verstärker, und was wie Instrumente aussah mittragend, ohne Ahnung von irgendetwas. In das Radiostudio, welches sie benutzten, ihre Musik zu spielen und hermetische Texte zu rezitieren, kam eines Tages jemand herein und schrieb an die Wand: «Tasaday sind verdammte Poseure!», behauptend, ihre Geschichte sei frei erfunden. Ein Journalist, der nicht dieser Ansicht war, besuchte eines ihrer Konzerte, und kam zum Schluss: «Tasaday sind die italienischen Sex Pistols der Achtzigerjahre!», der Medienschwindel bestehe darin, ihre Echtheit anzuzweifeln. Tasaday, die experimentelle Noise-Tribal-Postrock-Industrial-Band aus Brianza: eine grosse Entdeckung? Ein ausgeklügelter Schwindel? Ist der Schwindel echt?

 

 

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