The Blair Brothers embark on a 2,000-mile journey through the Spice Islands in search of the Bird of Paradise, the symbol of eternal life. They encounter storms and doldrums, sultans and transvestites, priests, pearl divers and python hunters, before finally reaching the Aru Islands close to New Guinea. Their odyssey with the Bugis tribe starts the Blairs on a journey which leads them into the forgotten wisdom of the island peoples. 58 min.

Publisher: Mystic Fire
Video

The Blairs sail to Komodo and film giant carnivorous lizards. On Sumba, they witness a veiled form of human sacrifice by equestrian warriors. Weavers of magical textiles, the Sumbanese still live by ancient beliefs, ritually keeping the balance between the gods above and the world below. The brothers journey 50,000 years into the past to live with Asmat headhunters in New Guinea. In Bali, they build a home in a village of farmers, artists and mystics. 58 min.

Publisher: Mystic Fire
Video

In the shadow of Java’s constantly erupted volcanos, the Blairs encounter a world of medieval courts, mystical shadow-puppet plays, of magical swords, healers with supernatural powers and whole communities ruled by the Toraja people of the Celebes highlands. The brothers share in the massive funeral rites of the last king of the tribe which believes its ancestors came from the stars in skyships. 58 min.

Publisher: Mystic Fire
Video

For 800 miles, through untamed and uncharted rainforest, the Blairs seek the last of the Punan Dyaks, the blow-gun-wielding nomads of the interior. Eventually, the Blairs find them and are initiated into the spiritual mysteries of the “dream wanderers.” They get tattooed with the symbol of Aping,”the Tree of All Life.” 58 min.

Publisher: Mystic Fire
Video

“This book marks the first time that anthropologists have systematically studied cross-cultural variations in homosexual behavior in a non-Western culture. Documents several societies where homosexual relations among men are both universal and obligatory, challenging a number of medical, biological and psychological theories of homosexuality.”

Publisher: University of California
Paperback: 455 pages

Which one would you be, “man” or “non-man”? First-hand reports and essays on a hidden aspect of Moslem culture. “Portrays very clearly the relationship between same-sex eroticism and the ideal of the man as penetrator… .” Illuminates “not only male homosexuality but the whole sexual culture and the role of gender in the Moslem world, including such countries as Morocco, Syria, Iran, Turkey and Israel,“ where the Western concept of a “gay person,” one who both gives and receives male affection, is still relatively unknown. GR

Publisher: Haworth
Paperback: 201 pages

The Jivaro Indians who reside around the border of Ecuador and northern Peru were perhaps most famous for the hunting and shrinking of human heads. Because of this tradition, their villages and culture remained largely unspoiled by outsiders well into this century. In the late ‘70s the author went to live among them and earned their acceptance and trust. The picture he paints of them is a knowing insider’s look at their customs, beliefs and daily life. The text exudes anthropological scholarship, and the translation from the original French is excellent.
The book’s main weakness is that the Jivaros aren’t really very interesting. They build huts and survive all manner of hardships. By the time the author has arrived, they already have rifles and headhunting is something that nobody has done recently. Their culture isn’t visually rich or myth-laden. If one is seeking a well-written portrait of a primitive people eking out a living in a harsh environment, this is about as good a telling as one could hope for. SA

Publisher: New Press
Hardback: 459 pages
Illustrated

“These nine tales concern the Yeti, the wildman known in the West as the Abominable Snowman. They were collected by the author in the course of his travels in different parts of northern Nepal.”

Publisher: Pilgrims Book House
Paperback: 24 pages
Illustrated

Collection of eight travel essays. Except for one essay on Central America, all of these pieces are concerned with remote spots in the Hindu, Buddhist or Muslim worlds.

Publisher: Ecco
Paperback: 192 pages
Illustrated

Romance! Danger! Animals! Picture Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in a Tarzan picture. “Martin and Osa Johnson thrilled American audiences of the ‘20s and ‘30s with their remarkable movies of faraway places, exotic peoples and the dramatic spectacle of wildlife… [they] seemed to embody glamour, daring and the all-American ideal of self-reliance.” Their travelogs—such as Simba, Congorilla and Borneo—humanized the wonders of the world. The “handsome pair from Kansas” even sparked a dance craze, the Congorilla. They were a special pair of footloose pioneers, except for that little imperialist/racist baggage thing they carried with them: “The high point of laughs was when the pygmies ate soap, blew up a balloon that burst, and tried to light cigars. And how those brown midgets go into their dance…” GR

Publisher: Rutgers University
Hardback: 313 pages
Illustrated