“Our elders are passing away, and with them thousands of years of knowledge is at risk of disappearing. Our stories have the power to keep our knowledge alive for future generations.”
Flor Tangoy, Siona Nation
For hundreds of years, elders in indigenous communities have shared their stories, their memories and their histories with their children, grandchildren and neighbors. Without written languages, the Secoya, Waorani, Siona and Kofan cultures depended on stories and the generational bonds created through oral tradition.
As colonization, deforestation and acculturation creep deeper and deeper into the indigenous ways of life in the Amazon, that living memory is harder and harder to transfer from generation to generation.
As colonization, deforestation and acculturation creep deeper and deeper into the indigenous ways of life in the Amazon, that living memory is harder and harder to transfer from generation to generation.
We are supporting indigenous youth to tell their own stories in their own voices, keeping indigenous memories alive.
Yet, now more than ever, indigenous stories must be told, passed down to future generations and also shared with the outside world, whose destructive way of life is the root cause of cultural loss.
We believe that indigenous communities must tell their own stories, so we are training indigenous youth to use film, photography and other storytelling techniques to transmit the knowledge and histories of their ancestors within their communities while creating films that allow those who live outside of the Amazon to understand their changing realities.
We believe that indigenous communities must tell their own stories, so we are training indigenous youth to use film, photography and other storytelling techniques to transmit the knowledge and histories of their ancestors within their communities while creating films that allow those who live outside of the Amazon to understand their changing realities.
