Entry 4:
Digital Storytelling, though very new in terms of scope and popularity, may be the lifeline of cultural heritage.
After reading about Alberta, Canada’s Writing-on-Stone monument being named to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list, I could not help but think of those stones as the digital stories of their time. It was a way to share stories with a community and those passing through. Those stories live on today because someone took the time to record them. “The site contains thousands of rock carvings and paintings, including some that chronicle historical events such as Indigenous People’s first contact with Europeans” (vancouversun.com, 2019). This is cultural heritage being saved for a future generation.
Last week, Mirage News reported on the efforts of SharingStories Foundation. The foundation has worked since 2006 to collect stories for The Woonyoomboo Project. The story of The Night Heronwas recorded by Senior Nyikina Cultural Custodian Annie Nayina Milgin. She shared the story in her native language, just as her father had passed it on to her. “It tells of how Woonyoomboo brought the Nyikina world into being and where he lived and travelled. Woonyoomboo named and created all things for the Nyikina people, including the mighty Fitzroy River. He left language, law, ceremonies, dance, kin and skin relationships and vast libraries of knowledge in an epic Songline as he travelled.” Over 50 traditional songs have been recorded for the project as well.
This is amazing to hear. This is a language that could die out as younger generations become more globalized and move away to bigger cities. However, through the recording of digital stories, the language and tales will live on. Just last year, Alaskan lawmakers declared an emergency to save their 20 native languages (upi.com). Without a serious change, all of their native languages face the prospect of extinction by 2100.
Digital stories such as the Woonyoomboo with its native language translated into subtitles and animated graphics, can attract kids while they are still young. These can endear the culture to the younger generations that they remember fondly and, perhaps, will work to save as they get older.
National Geographicshared the digital story of Marie Wilcox, the last fluent speaker of the Wukchumni language. Only 200 of her tribe remain today and she is seeking to teach her family how to speak their native language.
I do wonder, as time progresses, how cultural heritage preservation will protect these digital pieces. As technology rapidly progresses and outdates itself, it will be a struggle to maintain these stories for future generations. It is very easy for things to get dropped as systems update or during migration to a completely new system all together. Perhaps, saving digital heritage will be far more difficult than saving the rocks of Alberta.
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