Editor's Page

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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