Many small cultural groups live in places far away from modern cities. Some of these tribes have never had any communication outside of their small geographical areas. When they do contact the outside world, their lives usually change. Learning how to change without losing the best of their own cultures is a problem for them. How can primitive cultures learn to live in a technological world? How can they do this without becoming lost? One native tribe in New Guinea has a difficult situation. The people of the tribe are being pulled in two ways. First of all, copper, a bright orange-colored metal, has been discovered under the land where they have lived for centuries. Developers want to take the copper out of the ground, to mine it. The tribe needs the money that a copper mine would bring. The problem is that the copper is directly under the most important buildings of their society. These buildings are a necessary part of their religion. How can the copper be mined without changing the group's religion? The answer to this question has not yet been found. However, a group of people is trying to help the tribe to learn to communicate with the rest of the world. Cultural Survival, Inc. is the name of the group. The people are anthropologists, scientists who study cultures. They want to help small, separate societies live successfully within the larger society. Cultural Survival, Inc. wants to help these groups keep the idea of who they are. It wants to teach them how to live in the modern world. There is another organization like this in London. It is called Survival International. One in Copenhagen is called the International Workshop for Indigenous Affairs. These two groups have joined with Cultural Survival, Inc., to help people become used to modern culture. These organizations work with another kind of problem, too. Sometimes a central government does not consider the needs of local people. Often the rich people of a country will get more from a new project than the working people. The poorer people sometimes suffer even more because of these projects. One thoughtless government leader moved the people out of a very large area. He wanted to set up a special vegetable business. He wanted something to sell to earn money from other countries. About 50,000 people were forced off their native land. These people suffered a great loss because they had to leave their homes. Cultural Survival, Inc. helped them. Cultural Survival, Inc. and its sister organizations also give advice about tourism. The tourism business can cause problems. Many small societies need to earn money, but a large group of visitors can hurt their culture. The Sherpas of Nepal are a good example. The beauty of the Himalayan Mountains brings many mountain climbers from all over the world. However, the tourists leave tin cans and other garbage. What the tourists leave behind in this beautiful area is making a garbage dump. The mountain climbers are also cutting down trees for their fires. This area has few trees, and the Sherpas need the wood for their uses. The Sherpas, it is clear, could use the help of Cultural Survival, Incorporated. Why are some small tribes isolated?