Amazonian Indigenous Lives

The amazon forest – easily one of the most significant and important regions in the world – is at risk.

Not only it is this planet’s region of greatest biodiversity, it also holds traditional cultures which have still resisted Western society’s ills. Rich in language and rituals, these communities face extinction from deforestation, disease, violence and economic development.

A new initiative from the heart of the Amazon

Key indigenous leaders in col laborat ion wi th the Museum of the Person, suppor ted by Norwegian technology innovators Piql have developed a new project that aims to contr ibute to the protect ion of indigenous people of the Brazi l ian Amazon. This project wi l l record, preserve and disseminate indigenous memor ies and tradi t ions whi le training young indigenous people in the Social Memory Technology, a methodology that al lows groups to preserve, share and use thei r memor ies autonomously. Preserving the untouched Indigenous people car ry wi th them communi ty histor ies, tradi t ions, ways of thinking, human interact ion and communicat ion as wel l as a unique envi ronmental knowledge. This project wi l l create awareness and contr ibute to the preservat ion of this cul ture, history, knowledge and insight , strengthening the cul ture and ident i ty of these people, whose voices and knowledge are essent ial for the preservat ion of the Amazon rainforest .

This project wi l l ensure that indigenous l ives and cul tures wi l l be col lected, documented and shared wi th the wor ld and contr ibute to a r icher future. 10 Amazonian communi t ies have been invi ted to par t icipate and wi l l be trained to capture the l i fe stor ies of elders, women and other communi ty members. The recorded stor ies wi l l be kept by the communi t ies as par t of thei r legacy and shared wi th the Museum of the Person to inform the publ ic on the impor tance and uniqueness of these cul tures. The Museum wi l l curate a special exhibi t ion featur ing the captured stor ies alongside the l i fe stor ies of 50 indigenous leaders f rom di f ferent Brazi l ian regions. In addi t ion, the memor ies wi l l be stored in the Arct ic Wor ld Archive, a safe reposi tory of wor ld memory. Set deep inside an ar t icle mountain on Svalbard, Norway, memor ies stored here wi l l last for centur ies on Piql ’s future-proof technology.