Amuesha Map

Amuesha Map

Series: Worlds of Difference
From: Homelands Productions
Length: 00:09:41

In the jungle of Peru, an American anthropologist and an indigenous tribesman work against time to create a high-tech "cultural map" of the tribe's ancestral territory. Read the full description.

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Piece Description

Anthropologists say humanity is going through an unprecedented wave of cultural extinction, as hundreds of tiny indigenous groups lose their languages and customs. For many of those groups, the first step toward cultural oblivion is the loss of their ancestral territories to outsiders. In this sound-rich documentary feature, reporter Jon Miller travels to the highland jungle of Peru, where he meets two men who are using Geographic Information Systems technology to try to keep one small culture from disappearing from the world map.

Broadcast History

Aired in slightly different form on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday in June 2001

Transcript

AMUESHA MAP -- TRANSCRIPT
Jon Miller

BRITNEY SPEARS SONG: You drive me crazy, crazy baby!

If you're looking for a place to pick up a Britney Spears tape, you might try Oxapampa, a tropical hill town on the western fringe of the Peruvian Amazon. With a little bargaining you can get one from this street vendor for about a dollar and a quarter. Or if you prefer, you can buy the Police, Nirvana, Kenny G or the Doors.

MOTOR-TAXI

With its motorcycle taxis and wide dirt streets, Oxapampa FEELS like a frontier outpost. But in fact it's well connected to the outside world. Every day a bus makes the 10 hour trip over the Andes from Lima. Last year an Internet place opened over a grocery store on the main square.

ELECTRIC GUITAR

Even the PEOPLE who live in Oxapampa tend to be from other places. In fact there's been so much immigration in recent years that the people who USED...
Read the full transcript

Timing and Cues

SUGGESTED INTRO: Anthropologists say we're in the middle of a massive wave of cultural extinction, as hundreds of tiny indigenous groups lose their languages and customs. For many of those groups, the first step toward cultural oblivion is the loss of their ancestral territories to loggers or prospectors or oil drillers or settlers. But some are fighting back. Reporter Jon Miller traveled to the highland jungle of Peru to meet two men who are using high-tech tools to try to keep ONE culture from disappearing from the world map.

SUGGESTED OUTRO: That was Jon Miller reporting for Homelands Productions. For more information, visit www.homelands.org.