The video is based on the first interaction that took place between an isolated tribe of Papua New Guinea in 1970’s and a white man (Youtube).
The aim of this article is to gain a better understanding of the kind of communication that took place in the video in terms of the dynamics of non-verbal communication. The significance of non-verbal communication has been extremely significant for this video, as the language spoken by the tribe was not known to the white man. Tools such as body language including posture, facial expression, tone of their speech is used to understand the reaction of the tribe. It is evident that the posture of the tribe was tense in the beginning. They were extremely skeptical of the new exposure; they did not initially believe that the white man was a human being made out of flesh and blood. A white man losing his balance somehow made them believe in his genuine intentions. The tribal men did not make any eye contact with the white man, did not hold on to the gaze which clearly indicative them being unsure (Youtube). They were somehow frightened and curious t the same time as they crossed the bridge half way and went back to their side. It took some time to gain their trust enough to let them touch the hand held out by the white man. They very first is the bond of trust that was established between the tribe and the white man as they are seen to shake hands a few minutes later. The culture specifies the kind of haptic communication that is permissible in every culture. In this instance, they accepted the salt offered by the white man. This was followed by a handshake by the right hand, the hand used for holding weapon- the right hand, was the final bond of trust that was built as a bridge between the them (Youtube).
To conclude, although initial trust was established, the two parties maintained each others personal space. The communication was furthered by the acceptance of the gift of salt and match box by the white man and the tribe.
Work Cited
Manusov, Valerie Lynn, ed. The sourcebook of nonverbal measures: Going beyond words. Psychology Press, 2014.
YouTube. Tribe Meets White Man For The First Time. 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aV_850nzv4. Accessed 25 Nov 2019.
