European colonists who “went native” in Africa often broke down mentally and physically.

Evidence

In Africa, “Europeans who attempted to live native style quickly went to pieces. Some missionaries who tried this approach failed wretchedly. Many white men who let their standards fall in the bush took to drink and self-despair, and some became so deranged they sought refuge from the immensity of the continent, like wild animals, in lairs under rocks or in caves. ‘Going shenzi,’ it was called.” Jeremy Murray-Brown, Kenyatta, Fontana/Collins, London, 1974, p. 47. Murray-Brown maintains that Kenyatta while living in Britain was driven by similar strains, but resolved them by discovering a sacred tree in his garden in Storrington, and “maintained communion with the spirits of his people through libations and prayers.” — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 2385

Categorization

• CANDY: The idea of colonizers ‘going shenzi’ and hiding in caves while Kenyatta communes with a sacred tree in England is a vivid, darkly funny reversal of the colonial encounter.
• XREF: connects to: Even skilled Europeans starved in environments where locals thrived without their knowledge — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 129