Bruce Parry interview
The former Royal Marine instructor-turned TV adventurer talks about following in the footsteps of Scott, 'Tribe' and bull-jumping
Issue 80 | June/July 2006
The BBC series Tribe was one of 2005’s biggest word-of-mouth TV hits. Arriving with little fanfare, it soon grabbed both critical acclaim and huge audiences for its compellingly simple premise. Each episode, Tribe’s presenter – ex-marine and expedition leader Bruce Parry – spent a month living with some of the least-visited tribes on the planet, from Ethiopia to Venezuela, India to West Papua.
As well as the second and third series of Tribe, we've also seen Bruce in The Great Race, a series recreating the Scott/Admunsen race for the South Pole.
Were you surprised at the success of Tribe?
Yes. I was very worried when we started because it is a controversial realm. We are doing something that anthropologists might suggest is slightly dangerous. At the same time, I knew that we had been as honourable as we could. We were all very proud of it, but we just didn’t know what the reaction would be. When people started talking about it – well, that was a very strange time. My life just turned upside down.
We tried to get hold of you, but it was impossible.
Well, I went off to Greenland to do this other series, The Great Race. I was away for four months pretending to be Captain Scott in the Antarctic and wasn’t contactable.
How did the idea for The Great Race come about?
I wasn’t involved at all in the idea, though I’d had ideas similar to that. It’s real ‘Boy’s Own’ stuff, really fantastic. But I didn’t want to do it initially – I don’t like the cold particularly. I make no secret of that. And also, pulling a sledge is a big guy’s challenge, and I’m quite demure, as you see.
Come on Bruce, you’re pretty fit! You were in the Marines...
I was very fit in my day, when I was head of physical training, but for ten years I’ve done nothing really. I keep myself ticking over by going away and always having a rucksack on my back, but I’m pretty lazy generally. I’m not the sort of guy to go paragliding at the weekend – I’m quite happy to sit in the pub.
Had you read all the stories of polar exploration?
As a child I’d read all about Shackleton and Scott. I must admit that I’d been affected by the bad press of Scott. But when you do the trip yourself you can see the decisions he made and why he made them. It’s all very well saying: “it was only 11 miles to the supplies, why couldn’t he do it?” And then, when you’re actually there in the middle of a storm and you can’t even see five yards, you know why he couldn’t do it – it was just physically impossible, no matter how tough you are.
So, putting yourself in that situation, using the same gear, eating the same food, pulling the same weight, you suddenly see him with respect.
It was a different experience to Tribe, which is all about human interaction. Tribe – I’ve got the best job in the world! I pinch myself every day and thank my lucky stars.
Was Tribe your idea?
Yes and no. I did a programme a few years ago called Cannibals and Crampons. The producer wanted to do something on indigenous people and I thought, why don’t I go and live with them? I just thought that would be the way to understand them better.
In Cannibals and Crampons, I spent weeks at a time in a hut in New Guinea, but there was always a difference between them and us. So I take all of that away in Tribe. I’m not wearing insect repellent, I’m not purifying the water, and I’m absolutely living with them. If they go off and shit in the woods and then cut up a pig with a bit of bamboo they haven’t washed and pass it to me, I just stick it in my mouth because I am one of them. That’s the secret to Tribe.
I’m obviously always going to be an outsider but they love the fact that I’m trying. Of course, for me it’s hard because it’s quite painful, and bland and mundane, eating the same food all the time, when you know the crew are having spaghetti bolognese. They say to me: “Bruce, do you want to go and eat with them?” and I say: “I don’t want to eat with the crew; I want to eat with you guys.” It’s a bit of a fib, but they love that.
Do you ever feel like staying on at the end of your visit?
No. I don’t. I’m often very lonely and I’m looking forward to clean sheets and a nice bath. I understand the beauty of being in those places and I make strong personal friendships, but I do find it hard. People are a little disappointed by that. They love to think that I could stay there forever, but it’s a sad fact that I miss my iPod, and I miss girlfriends and family life.
How long do you spend researching each tribe?
We have a team in the UK that researches a lot. I like going in there quite fresh, though I obviously know a lot more than I let on to the cameras. I have to have a good base knowledge, but there is also a sense of freshness about not knowing too much.
Looking at the programme it’s difficult to tell there’s even a crew there.
It’s a very small crew – two or three – and they stay outside the village. I live with the crew for the first two or three days so the community can see me. We give them a few days to come up with the family that wants me. When I move in, for the first week I do 100% what the locals do. After that I occasionally visit the crew and have a beer.
What gifts do you give to the tribes?
You’ve got to be careful. It is the single biggest difficulty; knowing how to remunerate. We always take advice from anthropologists and locals who know the area. We don’t ever give too much in any area and we don’t give for nothing. Sometimes it’s food, sometimes it’s mirrors and knives, and other times it’s money. Most of these cultures have a cash economy. The Suri have a shop round the corner where they go and buy their food.
Have you ever chosen not to visit a tribe?
Yes. We don’t go for first contact. The other thing we’re trying to do with the third series is slightly upset these preconceptions that everyone has about change. Everyone’s like ‘you shouldn’t change them’ but actually it is much more complex than that. Often my being there is an absolute drop in the ocean anyway – loggers and miners and slavers and local authorities and military are f***ing these people over left, right and centre. A film crew going in there is nothing in comparison.
Is there anything you’d draw the line at?
So far in the whole series the only thing I haven’t done that’s been asked of me is the penis-inversion thing in Papua. In the next series I live with the Hamar people who have this amazing ritual where they jump over bulls. The women ask to be whipped as part of the ceremony, which is a phenomenal thing. Nobody asked me to join in, but would I be able to whip a woman? I probably wouldn’t actually.
How do the Kombai of Papua pee when the penis is pushed up inside?
I never hung around when they did it – it’s like you don’t peer over the urinals at home! I think they just slip it out and go for a wee and slip it back in again.
In the next series you also revisit the Suri tribe in Ethiopia. Is that the first time that you’ve been back to a tribe?
Yes, it was so lovely to see them. They had no idea we were coming. One thing we never considered was that the series would be a success and that loads of other similar TV programmes would be made – and that’s exactly what’s happened. We went there thinking, will they have changed? Will they have lots of tourists here now? We got there and a film crew had only just arrived, but they were the first visitors they’d had in over a year. We were pleased with that.
You were there because you were going to stay with their sworn enemies, the Nyangtom. Were they upset about that?
We hung out with them [the Suri] for a couple of days and I asked if it was OK for me to visit the other group. I didn’t want to upset them. The audience back home can see that what I’m trying to do is show the fallacy of war: that there are these two groups of wonderfully lovely people, and yet they hate each other and want to kill each other. You have to visit both sides, and one side is always going to be the second side you visit. So by doing that you’re going to upset the first.
You then go to stay with the Nyangtom. Were you at all apprehensive about walking in?
Not really. If you treat people with respect and humility, they generally respond in the same way. If I’d walked in the way I was going to originally, down backroads where they’re fighting all the time, then that would have been incredibly dangerous. Other Westerners have been shot at.
And did you find them very different to the Suri?
That whole area, the Omo valley, is ethnically diverse and very interesting. There are lots of different cultures that have come into the area over the years. They’re all pastoralists and quite similar really, so that’s why they dress up quite differently. It’s like supporting a football team over here; we’ve got our own scarves and we’ve got our own chants and we’re different to you guys. That’s why they’ve all got incredibly different facial markings, clothing, practices and rituals.
Do you think that a woman could have visited the tribes you visited?
Yes, absolutely. I put my hands in the air and admit I don’t cover the female aspects of the culture as well as the male. We try, but it’s incredibly hard for me to get in with the women. So maybe we should have a female co-host [applications to Bruce, please!].
Have you personally changed in any way?
Yeah, many ways. I’m lucky to have a unique perspective on the planet and especially our culture. There are many things that are abhorrent to us at home, but aren’t to them [the tribes] and I can look at that from their perspective and think maybe it isn’t so bad.
What’s your tribe back at home?
Ibiza, as that’s where I live. People will have completely the wrong impression! It’s actually beautiful. I’ve got a nice farmhouse in the hills. It’s a very down-to-earth place; I really like it.