Light at the Edge of the World : A Journey Through the Realm of Vanishing Cultures

A Journey Through the Realm of Vanishing Cultures For renowned anthropologist and ethnobotanist Wade Davis, the term �ethnosphere� encompasses the wealth of human diversity and all that traditional cultures have to teach about different ways of living and thinking. In Light at the Edge of the World, Davis�best known for The Serpent and the Rainbow �presents an intimate survey of the ethnosphere in 80 striking photographs taken over the course of his wide exploration. In eloquent accompanying text, Davis takes readers deep into worlds few Westerners will ever experience, worlds that are fading away even as he writes. From the Canadian Arctic and the rain forests of Borneo to the Amazon and the towering mountains of Tibet, readers are awakened to the rituals, beliefs, and lives of the Waorani, the Penan, the Inuit, and many other unique and endangered traditional cultures. The result is a haunting and enlightening realization of the limitless potential of the human imagination of life. For more than 30 years, renowned anthropologist Wade Davis has traveled the globe, studying the mysteries of sacred plants and celebrating the world's traditional cultures. His passion as an ethnobotanist has brought him to the very center of indigenous life in places as remote and diverse as the Canadian Arctic, the deserts of North Africa, the rain forests of Borneo, the mountains of Tibet, and the surreal cultural landscape of Haiti. In Light at the Edge of the World, Davis explores the idea that these distinct cultures represent unique visions of life itself and have much to teach the rest of the world about different ways of living and thinking. As he investigates the dark undercurrents tearing people from their past and propelling them into an uncertain future, Davis reiterates that the threats faced by indigenous cultures endanger and diminish all cultures. "From his travels to study the mysteries of sacred plants and the heart of cultures, renowned anthropologist Wade Davis returns with stories that eloquently describe many different ways of thinking, living and being. But traditional peoples who live in remote places--the Canadian Arctic and the deserts of North Africa, the rain forests of Borneo and the Amazon, the Andes and the mountains of Tibet, the swamps of the Orinoco, the wilds of British Columbia and the surreal cultural landscape of Haiti--now face the danger of losing their ways of life, a blow to the richness of human diversity."--Jacket Contents......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 Acknowledgements......Page 14 1......Page 18 2......Page 32 3......Page 84 4......Page 116 5......Page 138 6......Page 180 7......Page 200 About the Author......Page 222