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Maya Jiro Mithe

A folk tale from the Great Andamanese tribe that explains why birds are conserved in the Andaman Islands. The last speaker of the Bo language, the late Boa Sr., who died in February 2010, was seen talking to birds, as she believed that birds of Andaman understood her language. This is a story of a boy who belonged to the Jero tribe and lived near the seashore. Other tribes who lived near the seashore were Khora, Bo, and Sare. The protagonist of the story is swallowed by a Bol fish and then all the rescuers become birds. The tribes thus believe that birds are their ancestors.

 

Gamo Elders praying in Dorbo Meadow in Southern Ethiopia at the beginning of the Mascal Ceremony Credit: Christopher McLeod.

A Collection of Stories to Illustrate Biocultural Diversity

One story can often teach more than one hundred books…Tell your biocultural diversity stories here! This page is dedicated to the “real-life” stories of people who are working on the ground to conserve biocultural diversity. What attracted you to work for biocultural diversity conservation? What were some of the key experiences in your work? What were the challenges and opportunities, the trials and successes, the difficulties or the more exhilarating (or even funny!) moments of your work? What are some of the most inspiring stories you know about how people around the world are maintaining or restoring the health of their cultural traditions, their languages, and their landscapes? What are some of the most compelling stories you’ve heard about the inextricable link between people and the environment? Send your submissions by clicking on the button to the left.
  • La Madre De Las Cosechas Felipe Montoya Greenheck image007Hace mucho, pero mucho tiempo, cuando aún no habías nacido tú, ni tus padres, ni tus abuelos, cuando aún no habían casas ni calles, ni habían televisores ni radios, cuando aún no habían libros y los únicos cuentos que existían eran los que se escuchaban contar por los abuelos y las abuelas alrededor del fuego, hace mucho tiempo, cuando las personas todavía salían a cazar y a recolectar frutas silvestres para poder comer, pues aún no sabían cómo cultivar la tierra sembrando semillas, en ese tiempo tan lejano, casi al comienzo de los tiempos, había una niña llamada Pacha. Pacha era una niña muy particular, pues no le gustaba hacer lo que hacían las demás personas. No le gustaba ir de cacería, ni tampoco le gustaba andar por el bosque recolectando frutas silvestres. En cambio, a Pacha le gustaba hacer cosas que a nadie más le interesaba. A Pacha le encantaba jugar en la tierra, enterrando cositas y recordando dónde las había escondido para volver a desenterrarlas. Este era su propio juego. Era un juego de memoria que sólo ella entendía, y con el que ella solita se entretenía.
  • Dancing in the Ring - Learning wisdom from our indigenous cultures Robert Wild photo: Wild Roses, by Tania Aguila, 2011The English folk song “Here the Rose Buds in June” has long been one of my favorites. It sums up for me the riches of culture and our place in nature. Growing up in the nineteen seventies my environmental awakening was a school bird project at age 13, Young Ornithologists Club membership given to me by an older cousin set me on the route to birdwatching and later a life as a professional ecologist. Despite training as a scientist I have tried to integrate my love for nature into the whole of my life through art, culture and religion. This folk song I discovered at about the time that I started British traditional morris dancing and the words of this song and the earth ethic of folk dance has been a long-term influence. The three time beat and haunting melody gives it an almost hymn like quality, and it has a spiritual resonance. The many authors and holders of this song, and no doubt there were many as it was handed down and honed by several generations of singers, were clear that they were part of nature, and not separated from it as I felt growing up. Here is the song and some of my thoughts...
  • Growth - Revision for Higher Biology or Different Ways of Knowing Robert Wild The bud swelled the spring flower unfolded a blinding blue translucent star Growth: The irreversible increase in dry matter The baby smiled at his mother suckled on the warm soft breast taking sweet nourishment Growth: The irreversible increase...
  • A Sense of Place (Campfire Meditation) Luisa Maffi credit: Cristina MittermeierWe're hearing so much about Indigenous knowledge lately Knowledge about the natural world We want to know that knowledge To understand what we've done wrong To make things better But knowledge alone won't do that for us Stories we hear From indigenous mouths Are not stories of Knowledge of place alone They are stories of Sense of place...
  • Caring for Country: An Australian Approach to Indigenous Land Management Andy Harrison The Tanami track is a rough, corrugated ‘bush highway’ that cuts across the Central Australian desert from Alice Springs northwest to Halls Creek in the Kimberley. While an important artery serving Aboriginal communities and mining operations, this route ...

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