Ingenuity of the Inuit: The Tale of the 'S**t Knife' - Wade Davis

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2010/01/13/Wade_Davis_Why_Ancient_Wisdom_Matters_in_the_Modern...

Wade Davis, author of The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World, contrasts Western perception of the Inuit as "savages" with the endless inventiveness he sees in their way of life. "The Inuit didn't fear the cold; they took advantage of it," he says.

-----

What does it mean to be human and alive?

The thousands of different cultures and languages on Earth have compellingly different answers to that question. "We are a wildly imaginative and creative species," declares Wade Davis, and then proves it with his accounts and photographs of humanity plumbing the soul of culture, of psyche, and of landscape.

The threat to cultures is often ideological, Davis notes, such as when Mao whispered in the ear of the Dalai Lama that "all religion is poison," set about destroying Tibetan culture.

The genius of culture is the ability to survive in impossible conditions, Davis concludes. We cannot afford to lose any of that variety of skills, because we are not only impoverished without it, we are vulnerable without it. - The Long Now Foundation

Edmund Wade Davis (born December 14, 1953) is a noted Canadian anthropologist, ethnobotanist, author and photographer whose work has focused on worldwide indigenous cultures, especially in North and South America and particularly involving the traditional uses and beliefs associated with psychoactive plants. Davis came to prominence with his 1985 best-selling book The Serpent and the Rainbow about the zombies of Haiti.

Davis has published popular articles in Outside, National Geographic, Fortune and Conde Nast Traveler.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• eskimo
• culture
• people
• inuits
• native
• tools
• resources
• anthropology
• society
• stereotypes
• stereotyping
• colonialism
• racism
• racist
• shit
• knife
• fora.tv
• foratv
• fora
• tv
• wade
• davis
• long
• now
• foundation

[alphacause]

MacGyver eat your heart out. Talk about being resourceful.

[FistfullaBerries]

Science concerns itself with data, and reason. Observational evidence. No amount of grant money can make something false to be true. Science prides itself in its process and the "frauds" get weeded out immediately upon arrival.

[vietorkorean]

the Inuits took the British as gods.... the fuck is this shit?

typical arrogant ethnocentric asshole trying to make up history again?

[pinz2022]

The frozen fish sled runner trick DID exist but only as an emergency contingency if they could find no decent driftwood or whale bone, their preferred materials.

Davis is exhibiting a common trait of his kind, assuming that a culture, just because it is different, is somehow superior. I hate it when people get romanticised beyond all reality.

[pinz2022]

I read Wade Davis' "The Serpent And The Rainbow" and I read Freuchen's books, including the one with the aforementioned story where he almost froze to death. I do NOT recall any mention of a poo knife. Perfesser Davis said he got that part from reading Freuchens' original journal. I wonder about that. I think the good perfessers venerable friend was telling him a tall tale. Arctic old-timers love to do that.

[me700gnomes]

@FistfullaBerries hooray for science !

[myrddinistheshit]

@FistfullaBerries allah u akbar

[anythingnew]

@ghicazorla lol

[lecrapauddejerri9]

yes

[waksupi]

I'm in Montana. nearly the first of August, and we have already had snow. Still have plenty from last winter. Screw Al Gore, global warming, and the fools who didn't pay attention in class in high school.

[robbspoter]

people can go crazy in the arctic, especially in the summer. a shit load a mosquitoes in the endless terrian of tundra. in winter on the ice, it just seems endless of nothingness... well, that is ofcourse if you're alone in the tundra and don't kno what to do

[pelopota]

What a lovely tale...