Q: Why did you want to experience life with the Mek specifically? 

Mark: We wanted to return to West Papua again because it’s a part of the world which receives very little attention generally, but felt we had to find an environment and, by association, a way of life that was as different from the Kombai as was possible. 

The mountains, with the different challenges that altitude and steep ground pose to human habitation, were the obvious starting point for our search. And the one or two remaining communities within the Mek tribe which were, according to our contacts, still relatively untouched by outside influence emerged as the most interesting subject that we could find there.

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