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A New Voice for Indigenous People
Published on New Straits Times Online: March 17, 2009
By Amy Chew
When environmentalist Ann McBride Norton climbed the highlands in China's northwest Yunnan province in 2001, she was touched by the wisdom of the people who lived there.
The indigenous people had little means of sharing their knowledge and experience with the outside world.
"There's so much we can learn from these (indigenous) people," said Norton.
"They have lived on the land for thousands of years. They see things which we cannot see, they hear things which we cannot hear." Remembering the rock art in America's Grand Canyon, Norton was inspired to help them communicate their knowledge visually, just as they had done thousands of years ago through drawings before the written script was invented.
With funding from the Ford Foundation, Norton established Photovoices — a unique project to help indigenous people document their environment, culture, concerns and values through photography.
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