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Title: Light at the Edge of the World: A Journey Through the Realm of Vanishing Cultures
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Manufacturer: Douglas & McIntyre
List Price: $14.95
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| Light at the Edge of the World: A Journey Through the Realm of Vanishing Cultures by Douglas & McIntyre Insightful | | So few modernists understand the depth and sophistication of traditional knowledge. Wade Davis is such a refreshing exception | | Light at the Edge of the World: A Journey Through the Realm of Vanishing Cultures by Douglas & McIntyre Wade Davis is lyrical . . . | | As far as I'm concerned, Davis is a five-star writer across the board. Not only does this man have more scientific knowledge than he knows what to do with, but he writes about people and plant life with equal flawless prose. This is a good 'starter' book for those who have not yet read him (or, who only heard of "The Serpent and the Rainbow"). His intense interest in, profound respect for indigenous cultures and their people quite obviously generate the trust and knowledge he receives in return. Like his beloved mentor, Harvard's Edward Schultz, he will literally go to 'the ends of the earth'and stay however long it takes so that he may absorb and understand what he finds there. His descriptions (and direct experience)of psychotropic's from the jungles and their place in the culture, should be read by the multi-national plunderers - as well as those whose only frame of reference is Timothy Leary. The natural world around them provide every, single necessary item of life and sustenance for the people. The huge, central-to-life importance of the Shaman is masterfully illustrated. It should be obvious that I cannot say enough in praise of Wade Davis. Go and discover him for yourself, get lost in the wonder of his world - and marvel . . . | | Light at the Edge of the World: A Journey Through the Realm of Vanishing Cultures by Douglas & McIntyre Plants and people | Wade Davis' long career among isolated peoples and cultures has given him an enviable insight. He manages to connect with people at many levels. They are free and open with him, an obvious outsider. Their stories, legends, life modes all come to light under his gentle persuasive powers. In this outstanding account of his travels and his studies, we share much of what he and his mentors have learned.
The primary message in this book is how cultures vary with their environments. Worldwide, Davis notes, only about five per cent of humanity live in areas relatively untouched by European intrusion. They are scattered, often living in what we deem as "savage" or "desolate", yet they survive and flourish when allowed. Hardly rigid in outlook, these people have learned well how to adapt to changing conditions. They have come to know just how to deal with what Nature has provided. Centuries of experience are put to use on a daily basis, following seasonal and other variations. Their knowledge of the local plants in particular has stood them well, and they have much to offer us. Davis describes how this has developed in many regions, with the Amazon basin an area of his special interest.
Davis acknowledges two special influences in his work - David Maybury-Lewis, his tutor, and Richard Evans Schultes who had spent many years in the Amazon area. Davis followed them, but as his study interests grew, so did the range of his travels. North of the Amazon Basin, he enters the mountains of Columbia to learn the ways of the Kogi and Ika people. He takes us to Northwest British Columbia, where the Grizzly retains a meagre residual territory and meets Atehena [Alex Jack] to learn the ways of the shamans who formerly operated there. In lands once part of the Inca empire, he learns the uses of coca leaves - both social and medicinal. Haiti possesses numerous cultures, many with strong ties to the African homeland. That continent's sad history of imperialist intrusion probably created more artificial "national" boundaries than any other region of the world. Such intrusion causes displacement and Davis is witness to the shamanic rituals of a people only recently forced into a nomadic life.
The author concludes his narrative by describing two areas as opposite as one could imagine - the Red Centre of Australia and the snowy reaches of the Canadian Arctic. He recounts the utter innocence of the European invaders in both regions. British explorers and colonists suffered heavily as a result of their failure to understand how "primitive" people could survive better than "well-equipped" Victorians with their advanced technology and ideals of superiority. As elsewhere, long centuries of experience taught the Aborigines to find water in unlikely places and the Inuit to travel lightly and efficiently. Only in modern times have researchers arrived at an understanding of what "primitives" accomplished.
As he freely confesses, however, the work has only begun. This book is not only informative about how indigenous people have survived conditions deadly to us, but provides pointers about how to apply their knowledge for the benefit of us all. Medicines are but one step in what can be adapted for our use. And more Wade Davises are needed to do the tasks before us. Those new scholars, however, must go to those people to learn, not to change their ways to conform to ours. That would be artificial and self-defeating. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada] | | Light at the Edge of the World: A Journey Through the Realm of Vanishing Cultures by Douglas & McIntyre Stand Up for Cultural Diversity | | Wade Davis is both an exceptional anthropologist and an exciting writer. The remote and unique cultures that he records in this work give us home bound and over-weight readers a glimpse of hope in the human potential that we all share. We may not be able to travel as he has but through his vivid and engrossing writing, we can celebrate the human spirit that he has witnessed first hand. The special people he introduces to us see the world in different lights, sounds and smells than we do from our homoginized world view. We need to understand these cultures as a way to balance our own as we try to look beyond it to find new ways to meet the ever changing reality of our existence. | | Light at the Edge of the World: A Journey Through the Realm of Vanishing Cultures by Douglas & McIntyre A compelling read that is an engaging as it is informative | | an anthropologist and the author of several books (perhaps the best known of which is 'The Serpent and the Rainbow'), Wade Davis is explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society and has quite literally traveled the world to search out and study other cultures and their uses of sacred plants. In "Light At The End Of The World: A Journey Through The Realm Of Vanishing Cultures" he has compiled essays based on his researches into the lives, traditions, beliefs, customs, and ceremonies of tribal cultures that range from the Canadian Arctic to the deserts of North Africa, from the rain forests of Borneo and the Amazon, to the mountain communities of the Andes and Tibet, from the swamps of the Orinoco to the wilds of British Columbia, to the cultural landscape of Haiti. All of these cultures share one thing in common - they are in danger of losing their unique ways of life in the face of expanding technological and population encroachments and competitions for resources. A strongly recommended addition to academic, community, and personal library Anthropology and Social Issues reference collections and supplemental reading lists, "Light At The End Of The World" is a compelling read that is an engaging as it is informative, as compelling as it is instructive. | | Light at the Edge of the World: A Journey Through the Realm of Vanishing Cultures by Douglas & McIntyre Product Description | For more than 30 years, renowned anthropologist Wade Davis has traveled the globe, studying the mysteries of sacred plants and celebrating the world’s traditional cultures. His passion as an ethnobotanist has brought him to the very center of indigenous life in places as remote and diverse as the Canadian Arctic, the deserts of North Africa, the rain forests of Borneo, the mountains of Tibet, and the surreal cultural landscape of Haiti. In Light at the Edge of the World, Davis explores the idea that these distinct cultures represent unique visions of life itself and have much to teach the rest of the world about different ways of living and thinking. As he investigates the dark undercurrents tearing people from their past and propelling them into an uncertain future, Davis reiterates that the threats faced by indigenous cultures endanger and diminish all cultures. |
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