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Editor's
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Education - The Key to
Indigenous Survival - Page 1 of 3
The goal of this website is to provide
education to the general public and to indigenous people. It is my belief
that education is the key to indigenous cultural survival. Without
education, the young will not learn about their culture and perpetuate their
traditions; without education, outsiders will not appreciate indigenous
cultures and give them an opportunity to survive.
What are the key indicators of indigenous cultural integrity? Is it the way
indigenous people dress? Is it the absence of modern technology? Many
scientists are focusing on language as a key indicator, because when a
language dies, it takes with it the essence of the culture and its
traditions. It is not change or technology per se that threatens the
survival of a culture. To give an example, the indigenous people of the
Amazon are no less indigenous when they wear modern clothing and use boat
engines than I am lesser an American because I no longer use horses and
buggies like my pioneer American ancestors did. Indigenous cultures are not
inferior cultures doomed to extinction. Native cultures are dynamic and
adaptable, and presently, many are threatened by identifiable external
factors. Some indigenous Amazon cultures are being driven out of existence
by foreign diseases, other by the destruction of the rainforest. Given the
opportunity, indigenous people are capable of surviving in a modern world.
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