Batak: Ancient Spirits, Modern World

Overview

Sociocultural anthropologist James Eder documents the Batak tribes' eco-friendly hunter/gatherer way of life on the Philippine island of Palawan. Increasingly driven to take part in the island's growing cash economy, the tenacious Batak struggle to maintain their cultural and spiritual identity. Can conservationists, who approve of their sustainable methods of harvesting, help to secure the tribe's ancestral forest before it is lost?