Assimilation and over-exploitation, coupled with climate change, are threatening the livelihood of many cultures.  Without their traditional lands to hunt, forage or even to transition from child to adult, many nomadic clans have had to settle down in a reservation.  Due to this double whammy as many as half of today’s languages are threatened with “over six hundred having fewer than a hundred speakers.  Some 3,500 are kept alive by a fifth of 1 percent of the global population” (Davis, pg 5).

When I read this book, I had many conflicting thoughts.  Many traditional practices remember and celebrate the past; with that mindset, it is difficult to imagine an ancient culture surviving modern technology. However, after reading how the Polynesians managed to navigate through waters using their knowledge of waves and star position, I wonder how much better ocean travel would be if Western culture integrated their knowledge with that of modern sailors. 

Some parts were difficult to read as they involved the destruction of many different cultures by a well-meaning group that meant to teach the “savages” a better way of life – theirs.  There were also many groups that raped and pillaged the people, and their land, into submission.  While I was disheartened to read how the Canadian government assigned the Inuit people numbers because their names were too difficult to transcribe, Davis mentions that while Canada is the only nation-state to let a people group govern itself, he hopes that more may be willing to follow this lead.

 

 Review by by Cristina - the new manager at Cafe Voltaire and voracious reader