If the Na'vi met some of Earth's native peoples.

[HufweMakto]

What do you think will happen? For example they meet the tribes of the Amazon or those in Africa.

Seeing that some of the tribal communities in the Amazon already identify with the Na'vi, I would think it would an interesting meeting. It's a cool idea and concept.

[MarkD]

Hmm, well I could see a descendant of one of the amazon tribes visiting Pandora and telling some of the Omaticaya of his ancestors.

[Tanhì]

I don't think they would get along since their so different.

[MarkD]

How do you mean?

[Ximphron]

I'm not sure how well they would work with each other. You can't idealize tribal peoples or the na'vi, there is always bad members of any group, and tribal people and most likely the na'vi (as they have traditional warriors) do not refrain from warfare. Also, the life of a na'vi is considerably easier than that of a tribal human and they may find differences there. Connecting with the spirits is different here too. Na'vi might be offended by the rituals here to meet with spirits and ancestors, and tribes here may think that talking to a tree is ridiculous. Also, depends on where they are meeting. The na'vi might not take a liking to earth, they would have trouble understanding the lack of Eywa here and the jungles here are extremely different than Pandora (much more dense and dark, not good for 7+ foot tall people from a planet that never gets dark). The natives here on earth, likewise, would have trouble with coping on Pandora.
You can't assume, first of all, that because they both have cheifdoms, they think the same. You also can't assume that because they are primitive and "more connected with nature" that means they are perfect.

[allrock123]

Thinking on how the NaVi and earths native peoples would get along , one would honestly "have to wonder" if the Na'Vi in the past would have asked 'Grace" and other members of the group of humans Teaching 'The People" english Are there peoples like us on earth ? with her respect for them you would think she would at least mentioned earths past history and the fact earth has native peoples as well , there is no way
I can commit on rather our native peoples and the Na'Vi would see eye to eye I dont have the proper cultural connections ,I can only assume they would share comon intrests , but I have also seen examples where "outsiders" from another circle where looked on with mistrust this has to do with an very deep issue all human animals share "Human tribalism" its what makes us mistrust people from diffrent circles , build walls , and fear outside religions and customs. this is very much like a pack of wolves guarding there territory from outsiders and is one of the root issues for global conflict. there is also the issue of Could the Na'Vi breath our air one can assume on earth they might need bottled Pandora Air like humans need air packs on Pandora

[RD-701]

One wonders how the Na'vi would react to Earth. The gravity is 25% higher here, so they might feel heavy, fatigued... they would probably survive, but it could get tiring.

The different atmosphere is also an issue, some have concluded that pollution in Earth's atmosphere (I'm not sure if this was a reference to Na'vi visiting Earth in the present or the future of Avatar) would make them ill... but I don't think that would be the case. Na'vi are very tough, and they breathe an atmosphere that contains lethal levels of poisonous gases to us. Added to that, Pandora regularly experiences volcanism... which can spew particles and other toxic gases into the air. It also depends which air they're breathing on Earth- not all air is polluted equal.

So unless the Na'vi required the higher levels of hydrogen sulfide or carbon dioxide to survive (for whatever reason), and the partial pressure of oxygen was sufficient, they should be able to breathe our air. There seem to be conflicting sources on the internet as to the air pressure on Pandora- if there is information in the Survival Guide it would probably some the confusion- some sources state an atmospheric pressure of 0.9 atmospheres, others a pressure of 1.2 atmospheres. Assuming a similar percentage of oxygen as Earth, by the latter pressure the amount of oxygen available here would be lower, by the former figure there would actually be more oxygen available to the Na'vi than on Pandora.

If there were less oxygen available here, it would probably be like being at altitude for a Na'vi. It could lead to fatigue, headaches, etc, but probably wouldn't be lethal. If necessary, occasional oxygen supplementation could solve this problem.

As for meeting with native peoples of Earth (In this case the term is quite confusing, since everyone living on Earth at least in our time, is native to Earth), I think Ximphron has a good point. First and foremost these people are still 'skypeople' - humans (in this case, skypeople is also a pretty confusing term, since the Na'vi would be the ones coming from the sky), the same short, stocky, un-blue, piggy-eyed, hairy, queue-less creatures. Their way of life or ethnicity doesn't change this- and these differences between human and Na'vi are a definite communication barrier.

The same goes for the human's perception of the Na'vi- will they regard them as spirits of some kind? Demons? Sub-human animals? That could definitely put a damper on things. On the other hand, even if they were accepting of the Na'vi appearance, a Na'vi is still pretty intimidating. Again the differences could pose a significant communication barrier.

And then there is definitely the issue of conflicting beliefs. At the very worst case, some sort of fight could break out when someone disagrees that someone else's deity/spirit world/spiritual concept exists or is valid. On the other hand, they could agree to disagree... and perhaps exchange ideals helpfully.

But perhaps something else would happen. Perhaps, seeing how dark Earth is at night, with no bioluminescence, only a measly moon for illumination... seeing how there is no way to link with surrounding fauna, no Eywa at least in the Pandoran sense, how the physical, mental link to nature, to one another doesn't exist here. Perhaps seeing some of how it can be more difficult to survive here than on Pandora... perhaps the Na'vi would realise why the skypeople are the way they are.

Of course you get some other issues- it would be difficult for the Na'vi to comfortably sit or sleep in some shelters, and you also have biochemical differences- terran foodstuffs or medicinal herbs could be toxic or have unforseen negative effects for them (just as how most Pandoran life is said to be toxic to humans).

[_Omaticaya_]

^Nice post, you covered so many good and interesting points, I was particularly intrigued by this:

how the physical, mental link to nature, to one another doesn't exist here. Perhaps seeing some of how it can be more difficult to survive here than on Pandora... perhaps the Na'vi would realise why the skypeople are the way they are.

Now, altough I personally believe that some kind of Bond with Nature can exist between human beings and the surrounding eco-system, (for those whom seek one ofcourse), I do totally understand what you mean, and I found it a Very interesting statement.
Thanks for sharing.