Extra Credit: Wade Davis Culture Ted Talk

"All of these peoples teach us that there are other ways of being, other ways of thinking, other ways of orienting yourself with the earth." - Wade Davis

1. Why is language loss a problem?
Wade Davis explains that language is the vehicle for a particular culture. He says that language loss, or the new generation not speaking a language of the previous generation, makes it impossible for that old generation to explain its culture - its myths and stories, its ancestors, and its significance. On one level, language loss causes a disconnect between generations (my own conclusion). More importantly, language loss causes the loss of cultures.

2. Are these people “Noble savages” or a “Valuable Resource for Humanity”? What do we lose when ancient cultures die out? Isn’t this just natural selection? What’s the urgency?

We don't want to lose these ancient cultures, because it causes death of people as well as destruction of a group of people's beliefs and ideals. We want to live in an interesting "polychromatic world of diversity." Having fewer cultures makes people more narrow-minded and less able to develop a large array of ideals as a whole species. Wade Davis makes it clear we do not "have all the answers to all the questions that will confront us in the coming millennia," so we need these varied ideas and thoughts, and therefore, these people of other cultures are a "valuable resource for humanity."

3. Why was Canada’s Nunavut decision so courageous?

Canada's decision was courageous because it went against how all other countries were treating their native cultures. It was also courageous because it could have upset a large population of Canadian people who might have wanted that land or those resources for themselves. A lot of Candians could have benefitted from the land and resources and the country's economy could have created benefitted from the land, but it was instead returned to the Nunavut group, which I think is very courageous.