☞ One of the ways that ancient customs and knowledge were passed from generation to generation was through the telling of stories. But this transmission of information could only work with a vibrant oral culture, and it certainly would not work if the indigenous communities themselves are becoming increasingly diffused or even dying. The work of anthropologists such as Elizabeth Kapu’uwailani Lindsey is thus salutary. What work of this kind will do, of course, is not only the preservation of ancient cross-generational knowledge, but the preservation of the stories themselves, which are valuable in their own right.
“Elizabeth Kapu’uwailani Lindsey wants the world to remember the people who came before us.
The actor-turned-anthropologist has made it her mission to find, preserve and share the knowledge and traditions of indigenous populations before they disappear.
She’s working with Google to create a geospatial Map of the Human Story, using the indigenous science of wayfinding to chart tales at risk of being lost.”
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