Indigeneous Authenticity and Video Cameras
Notions of authenticity and modernity are often challenged by indigenous groups. The Ya’kuana and the Sanema of Venezuela (see article below) use microphones to record birdsongs, the Yanomami of Brazil have learned how to use video equipment to document their own cultural traditions and ceremonies, and the Runakuna of the Peruvian Highlands adopt Western urban clothing in their ventures into the cities. Often with indigenous groups there is an underlying current of Edward Said’s Orientalism, the Other. The traditions, languages,...
