“The sum total of all thoughts and intuitions, myths and beliefs, ideas and inspirations brought into being by the human imagination since the dawn of consciousness” is best defined as ethnosphere by Wade Davis, in his introduction to Wayfinders (2). He establishes the direction of this travel log with the introduction of culture: a dynamic and complex system that characterizes societies and from it flows people’s identity. As Davis immerses the reader into a series of indigenous people groups around the world, we are exposed to the DNA of these societies. Despite the diversity of lifestyles and languages, an evident ebb and flow threads these varying people groups together, creating the overarching themes of the book. Through a society’s culture, power, decomposition, and rebirth prevail, growing off one another and unveiling the cyclical undercurrent of humanity. As Davis establishes his thoughts on culture “being [an] unique expression of the human imagination and heart,
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Hence, the next common theme in the book is destruction and decomposition. In the third section of the book, Sacred Geography, we are introduced to the Aborigines, hunter gatherers who have thrived in Australia for 55,000 years. Just like every other people group described, the Aboriginals have their own skillful toolset perfectly shaped for their environment paired with a spirituality specific to them. Within time, Europeans arrived, sifting culture to match theirs. No metal tools, written language, or agriculture meant savagery, and through their power lens the Europeans saw this as an opportunity to civilize the Aborigines just as the Amazon people experienced. However, this shift began to decompose the culture of the natives. Of the 270 languages only 18 are spoken today, and their population has dwindled from over a million to thirty thousand (152). These people were exploited and murdered, and so was their
Hence, the next common theme in the book is destruction and decomposition. In the third section of the book, Sacred Geography, we are introduced to the Aborigines, hunter gatherers who have thrived in Australia for 55,000 years. Just like every other people group described, the Aboriginals have their own skillful toolset perfectly shaped for their environment paired with a spirituality specific to them. Within time, Europeans arrived, sifting culture to match theirs. No metal tools, written language, or agriculture meant savagery, and through their power lens the Europeans saw this as an opportunity to civilize the Aborigines just as the Amazon people experienced. However, this shift began to decompose the culture of the natives. Of the 270 languages only 18 are spoken today, and their population has dwindled from over a million to thirty thousand (152). These people were exploited and murdered, and so was their