As a tiger stalked close to her during her trip to Malaysia, Karen Endicott, director of communications at the Thayer School of Engineering, doubted her ability to climb a nearby tree. She looked to the people of the Batek tribe for alternative protection. They told her to remain in the tent -- they had spells to fend off the beast, they assured her.
"And it worked," she said. "No tigers came into camp."
Karen Endicott, who holds a master's degree in anthropology, and husband Kirk Endicott, a professor in anthropology and Asian and Middle Eastern, visited Malaysia to observe the unique customs and beliefs of the Batek, a hunter-gatherer tribe. The duo detailed their findings in a recently published book, "The Headman was a Woman: The Gender Egalitarian Batek of Malaysia."
The book centers on the gender equality of the Batek tribe, which grants both genders the same rights and opportunities. This structure is exceptional in hunter-gatherer societies, they said.
"The stereotype of hunting and gathering societies is the man hunts," Karen Endicott said. " Everything is organized around men as hunters; this was not the case for the Batek,"
"For the Batek, they value everybody's work, they don't value hunting or men's work more than anything else," she added.
The Batek have also resisted economic changes in Malaysia, as discussed in the book. Most of the rainforest where the Batek made their home has been cut down and logged off, according to Kirk Endicott. Gender relations and core values did not change with the shifting economy, Karen Endicott said.
"We thought the writing was on the wall -- people would have to settle down and become agriculturists to make a living," she said. "If that were the case, it would certainly be a possibility that men could gain control of resources and women could become dependent on the men."
The Endicotts first visited Malaysia in the 1970s. Upon returning to the Batek in the 1990s, they found a television and some western clothing, but observed the same gender relations and social structure.
Kirk Endicott has been studying the Batek culture since the early 1970s, at the suggestion of his anthropology advisor at Oxford. Since his first visit in 1971, Kirk Endicott has spent a combined total of two years in the region, with his most recent visit in 2002.
While Karen Endicott's major anthropological interest is gender relations, Kirk Endicott's include the economy, social groups and religion.
The Batek believe in super-human beings that could be described as gods or deities, according to Kirk Endicott. One of the most important of these super-humans is the thunderstorm god who punishes those who break prohibition.
To appease the thunderstorm god, the Batek perform a "blood sacrifice" to stop the thunderstorm, Endicott said.
"They cut their leg and throw blood as an offering," he said.
Blowpipes and darts, digging sticks, machetes, aluminum cooking pots and woven sleeping pads are commonly found in tribal houses, according to Karen Endicott.
She cautioned against thinking of the Batek as a primitive people. Their lifestyle is their choice, she said.
"They're wonderful people and they are making this choice to maintain a way of life that has been around a long time," she said. "They could just as easily make some other choice."