Sustaining the Wisdom of Indigenous Peoples
Environment, and Humanity
Posted June 2017
Anthropologist Wade Davis on his efforts to sustain cultures threatened by environmental degradation.
As an anthropologist, Wade Davis has devoted his life to studying indigenous peoples. As Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society and author of 15 books, Davis attempts to amplify the voices of communities that too-often go unheard—indigenous peoples from Greenland to Borneo, and most places in between. Today, as environmental degradation threatens the biomes that these communities depend on, Davis’s message is clear: indigenous cultures are not just intrinsically priceless, but may also hold the key to preserving the environments on which we all depend.
In this video, Davis speaks at Emerson Elemental’s November 2016 DO-FEST, a gathering of the world's leading climate action doers. When we turn our backs on indigenous peoples, Davis explains, we let a vast and indispensable wealth of knowledge slip through our fingers.