Previous Story
Pasifika Renaissance invites individuals to document oral traditions
With increased interest in promoting historical and cultural preservation, Pasifika Renaissance is inviting individuals to document oral traditions from knowledgeable elders in their villages or islands using video.
Participants are being asked to record their findings and upload their videos to the group’s YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnmyAfrAD0u4MpUF9jLgjag or by searching for their name on the site.
Topics of focus include elder narrations of legends, folk tales, colonial histories, experiences of war, and dying cultural practices. Documentation of cultural practices such as fishing, rituals, dancing and festivals are also welcome.
Narrators may speak in their native language or speak English since the target of the video documentary project is for the younger generation.
The project seeks active involvement in revitalizing the islands’ traditional culture and creating a larger renaissance movement in the wider Pacific region.
According to the Kaselehlie Press, Pohnpei’s local newspaper, Dr. Takuya Nagaoka is the organization’s executive director who also conducts interviews with elders in the Micronesian community discussing history, tradition, and culture.
In 2014, Nagaoka spent several months in Pohnpei and eventually went to Yap.
Nagaoka said that much of Pacific history is not preserved or available locally and one of the goals of the organization is to bring history back to where it belongs.
For more information on the project, email pasifika.renaissance@gmail.com or go to www.facebook.com/PashifikaRenaissance.
Pasifika Renaiisance is a non-profit organization registered in Japan on September 2014 that endeavors to preserve and promote cultural and historical heritage in the Pacific Islands in order to revitalize traditional culture and empower local communities. Their YouTube channel shares videos of oral tradition documentation projects throughout Micronesia including other cultural activities.
