The Wayfinders

I’ve just finished reading Wade Davis‘ book The Wayfinders.

This is a series of lectures he wrote for the CBC Massey Lectures and it’s an incredibly enlightening and sad book.  He writes about the disappearance of aboriginal cultures all over the world and what we’re losing by the destruction of these cultures. Many of these cultures are being lost due to the change of climate; but more by the overwhelming march of Western culture which is commercializing everything possible in the world. We’re moving toward a mono-culture which narrows the modality of thought to the point where we can not imagine different ways of looking at the world.

Here’s what the CBC says of his book: “Of the 7,000 languages spoken today, fully half may disappear in our lifetimes. This does not have to happen. The other cultures of the world are not failed attempts to be modern, failed attempts to be us. Each is a unique and profound answer to a fundamental question: What does it mean to be human and alive? When asked that question the peoples of the world respond with 7,000 sources of knowledge and wisdom, history and intuition which collectively comprise humanity’s repertoire for dealing with all the challenges that we’ll face as a species in the coming centuries. Every culture deserves a place at the council of the human experience.”

For instance the Polynesian culture that managed to populate the hundreds of small islands spread over thousands of miles of south Pacific ocean gained status in their communities by how much they could give as gifts. How different would our world be if we spent more time giving than accumulating. Those Polynesians also had an incredible ability to navigate the oceans prior to GPS and compasses..they navigated by having a relationship to the ocean, by visioning, by tasting, smelling and seeing the ocean and the air, by feeling the movement of the waves and following the fish and birds. Their abilities to navigate thousands of miles of ocean is truly a remarkable human skill which was completely ignored by Western culture until very recently. They were viewed as somewhat less than human and wouldn’t have anything worth knowing.

The Penan peoples of the Philippines lived harmoniously in the rain forests for 10s of thousands of years. They lived in complete harmony with their environment and it sustained them as a people and their status came from their relationships with each other. Status through personal relationships not things. Maybe that’s something else we could learn. But of course we have logged off all their forests and the Penan have been brought into the cities to earn a living.

It’s not that we need to adopt other cultures, but by understanding how others relate to the world and honoring that difference — maybe we could learn something. Maybe we could learn a little humility and just enough wisdom to modify our behaviour and create more balance. We need harmony. After all we can not continue on the path we’ve chosen. The planet is suffering under the weight of our unbridled consumption and not only are aboriginal cultures dying, but Mother Earth herself is suffering and quickly adapting. Her adaption is our peril.

I can only hope that something of significance comes out of the Copenhagen Summit next week.

Here’s a video of Wade at TED..it’s good, but the book is incredibly powerful.

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Tags: Earth, GPS, Pacific ocean, south Pacific, the Philippines, Wade Davis