TEDWomen 2010
Elizabeth Lindsey: Curating humanity's heritage
伊丽莎白·林赛：策划人类遗产
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有人说，一名长者逝去就如一座图书馆被焚毁。人类学家伊丽莎白·林赛，国家地理研究员，收集了作为故事和传说流传的深厚的文化知识。
Elizabeth Lindsey - Explorer, ethnographer
Elizabeth Lindsey is a fellow of the National Geographic Society. Her mission: to keep ancestral voices alive by recording indigenous wisdom and traditions. Full bio
Elizabeth Lindsey is a fellow of the National Geographic Society. Her mission: to keep ancestral voices alive by recording indigenous wisdom and traditions. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
As a child,
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在小时候，
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I was raised by native Hawaiian elders --
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我由夏威夷原住民长者抚养 --
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three old women
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三位老夫人
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who took care of me while my parents worked.
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在我父母去工作时照看我。
00:27
The year is 1963.
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那是1963年。
00:30
We're at the ocean.
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我们在海边，
00:32
It's twilight.
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正是黄昏。
00:34
We're watching the rising of the stars
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我们看着星星升起
00:38
and the shifting of the tides.
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和潮起潮落。
00:41
It's a stretch of beach we know so well.
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那是一段我们非常熟悉的海滩。
00:45
The smooth stones on the sand
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沙滩上光滑的石头
00:48
are familiar to us.
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也为我们熟知。
00:52
If you saw these women on the street
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如果你看看街上那些
00:54
in their faded clothes,
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穿着褪色的衣物的妇女们，
00:56
you might dismiss them
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你也许会认为她们
00:58
as poor and simple.
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贫困且无知。
01:00
That would be a mistake.
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这将是个错误。
01:03
These women are descendants
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这些妇女是波利尼西亚航海家
01:05
of Polynesian navigators,
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的后代，
01:07
trained in the old ways
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由他们的长辈
01:10
by their elders,
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用古老的方式训练。
01:12
and now they're passing it on to me.
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现在她们正在把它传授给我。
01:15
They teach me the names of the winds and the rains,
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她们教给我风的名字、雨的名字 --
01:19
of astronomy according to a genealogy of stars.
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天文学中的星系。
01:23
There's a new moon on the horizon.
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当一轮新月出现在地平线上时。
01:26
Hawaiians say it's a good night for fishing.
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夏威夷人会说这个晚上是捕鱼的好时机。
01:29
They begin to chant.
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他们开始歌唱。
01:32
[Hawaiian chant]
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[夏威夷歌声]
02:02
When they finish,
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唱完之后，
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they sit in a circle
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他们坐成一圈
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and ask me to come to join them.
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并邀请我也加入其中。
02:09
They want to teach me about my destiny.
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他们想要教我些与我的命运有关的事。
02:13
I thought every seven-year-old went through this.
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我想每个七岁的孩子都会经历这些。
02:15
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
02:19
"Baby girl,
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“宝贝儿，
02:21
someday the world will be in trouble.
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有一天，这世界会陷入困境。
02:24
People will forget their wisdom.
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人们将遗忘他们的智慧。
02:27
It will take elders' voices
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从世界遥远的角落
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from the far corners of the world
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传来的长者的声音
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to call the world into balance.
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将让这世界回归平衡。
02:37
You will go far away.
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你将远走高飞。
02:39
It will sometimes be a lonely road.
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有时会走上一条孤独的路途。
02:42
We will not be there.
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我们不再你身边。
02:44
But you will look into the eyes
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但你直视那些
02:46
of seeming strangers,
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貌似陌生的人的眼睛，
02:49
and you will recognize your ohana,
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你将认出你的‘奥哈纳’，
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your family.
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你的家人。
02:54
And it will take all of you.
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而他会照顾你的一切。
02:57
It will take all of you."
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它会照顾你的一切。”
03:01
These words, I hold onto
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这些话，我一生
03:04
all my life.
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谨记。
03:06
Because the idea of doing it alone
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因为那个孤独面对的说法
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terrifies me.
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让我感到恐惧。
03:12
The year is 2007.
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这是2007年。
03:15
I'm on a remote island in Micronesia.
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我在密克罗尼西亚的一座偏远的岛屿上。
03:18
Satawal is one half-mile long
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萨塔瓦尔岛有一英里半长
03:21
by one mile wide.
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一英里宽。
03:24
It's the home of my mentor.
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这是我的导师的家。
03:26
His name is Pius Mau Piailug.
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他的名字是庇乌斯·皮埃勒格。
03:28
Mau is a palu,
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毛是名巴鲁，
03:30
a navigator priest.
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一名航海牧师。
03:32
He's also considered
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他也被视为
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the greatest wave finder in the world.
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世界上最大海浪的发现者。
03:37
There are fewer than a handful
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这个岛上只有
03:39
of palu left on this island.
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很少的巴鲁。
03:42
Their tradition is so extraordinary
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他们的传统是如此的非凡
03:45
that these mariners sailed
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以至于那些水手
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three million square miles across the Pacific
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不用任何仪器航行也能穿越
03:50
without the use of instruments.
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三百万平方英里的太平洋。
03:53
They could synthesize patterns in nature
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他们能综合自然中的模式
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using the rising and setting of stars,
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星辰的起落，
03:59
the sequence and direction of waves,
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海浪的顺序和方向，
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the flight patterns of certain birds.
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特定鸟类的飞行模式。
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Even the slightest hint of color
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甚至云层下
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on the underbelly of a cloud
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颜色一丝半点的变化
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would inform them
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也能被他们察觉
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and help them navigate with the keenest accuracy.
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并帮他们非常精确的导航。
04:18
When Western scientists would join Mau on the canoe
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当西方科学家们乘坐毛的独木舟，
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and watch him go into the hull,
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并观察他进入船体时，
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it appeared that an old man
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看起来就像是位老人
04:25
was going to rest.
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准备休息。
04:27
In fact, the hull of the canoe
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实际上，这个独木舟的船体
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is the womb of the vessel.
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是船的子宫。
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It is the most accurate place
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这是能对海浪的
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to feel the rhythm and sequence
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节奏、顺序和方向
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and direction of waves.
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感觉最精确的地方。
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Mau was, in fact,
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实际上，毛是在
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gathering explicit data
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用他整个身体
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using his entire body.
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在收集详细的数据。
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It's what he had been trained to do
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这就是他自从五岁起
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since he was five years old.
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就受训做的事。
04:51
Now science may dismiss this methodology,
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现在科学也许摒弃了这一方法，
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but Polynesian navigators use it today
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但波利尼西亚航海家今天仍在使用这一方法
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because it provides them
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因为它能为他们提供
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an accurate determination
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对他们的船的
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of the angle and direction
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角度和方向
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of their vessel.
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的精确测定。
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The palu also had
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巴鲁还有
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an uncanny ability
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一项奇异的能力，
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to forecast weather conditions
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能在数天前事先
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days in advance.
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预测天气状况。
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Sometimes I'd be with Mau on a cloud-covered night
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有时，我与毛在一个乌云密布的夜晚
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and we'd sit at the easternmost coast of the island,
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我们坐在岛的最东岸，
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and he would look out,
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他会留心观察。
05:25
and then he would say,
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然后他会说，
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"Okay, we go."
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“好，我们走吧。”
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He saw that first glint of light --
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他看到第一道闪电 --
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he knew what the weather was going to be three days from now.
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他就知道今后三天的天气会是怎么样的。
05:35
Their achievements, intellectually and scientifically,
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他们的这些能力，在智慧上和科学上
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are extraordinary,
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都很非凡，
05:40
and they are so relevant
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而且这与
05:42
for these times that we are in
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我们逃离风暴时
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when we are riding out storms.
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所在的时机息息相关。
05:48
We are in such a critical moment
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我们处在我们共同的历史中的
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of our collective history.
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一个重要的时刻。
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They have been compared
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人们曾经把他们跟
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to astronauts --
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宇航员对比 --
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these elder navigators
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这些年长的航海者
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who sail vast open oceans
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驾驶着双体独木舟
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in double-hulled canoes
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从一个小岛出发
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thousands of miles
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在辽阔的海洋之上
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from a small island.
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航行数千英里。
06:13
Their canoes, our rockets;
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他们的独木舟，我们的火箭，
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their sea, our space.
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他们的海洋，我们的太空。
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The wisdom of these elders
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这些长者的智慧
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is not a mere collection
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不仅仅是
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of stories about old people
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在某个偏远地方的老人们
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in some remote spot.
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故事的集合。
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This is part of our collective narrative.
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这是我们集体叙事的一部分。
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It's humanity's DNA.
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这是人性的DNA。
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We cannot afford to lose it.
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我们不能失去它。
06:38
The year is 2010.
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这是2010年。
06:42
Just as the women in Hawaii
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正如在夏威夷抚养我的
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that raised me predicted,
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那位女性所预言的，
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the world is in trouble.
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世界陷入了困境。
06:51
We live in a society
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我们生活在
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bloated with data,
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数据爆炸的社会之中，
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yet starved for wisdom.
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但仍然渴望智慧。
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We're connected 24/7,
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我们全天候的互联，
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yet anxiety,
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但焦虑、
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fear, depression and loneliness
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担心、沮丧和孤独的感觉
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is at an all-time high.
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却达到了历史最高的程度。
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We must course-correct.
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我们必须朝着正确的方向前行。
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An African shaman said,
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一位非洲巫师说过，
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"Your society worships the jester
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“你们的社会崇拜小丑，
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while the king stands
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而王者则穿着平常地
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in plain clothes."
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站在一旁。”
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The link between the past and the future
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过去和未来间的联系
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is fragile.
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是脆弱的。
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This I know intimately,
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这我非常熟悉，
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because even as I travel
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因为在我
07:40
throughout the world
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环游世界
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to listen to these stories and record them,
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的时候听到这些故事并记录下来。
07:46
I struggle.
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我挣扎着。
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I am haunted
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我不再记得
07:56
by the fact that I no longer remember
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风和雨的名字的这一事实
08:00
the names of the winds and the rains.
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一直在我心头萦绕。
08:09
Mau passed away
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毛在五个月之前
08:12
five months ago,
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去世了，
08:14
but his legacy and lessons live on.
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但他的遗产和教训继续存在。
08:18
And I am reminded
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这提醒我
08:22
that throughout the world
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整个世界
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there are cultures
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有许多包含
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with vast sums of knowledge in them,
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无数知识的文化，
08:31
as potent as the Micronesian navigators,
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与密克罗尼西亚航海家一样强大，
08:35
that are going dismissed,
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这些文化正在消失，
08:37
that this is a testament
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这是那些
08:39
to brilliant, brilliant
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非常非常灿烂的
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technology and science and wisdom
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技术、科学和智慧
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that is vanishing rapidly.
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快速消亡的证据。
08:46
Because when an elder dies a library is burned,
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因为一名长者逝去，如同一座图书馆被焚毁。
08:49
and throughout the world, libraries are ablaze.
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全世界的图书馆都着火了。
08:53
I am grateful for the fact
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我对我能有一个
08:56
that I had a mentor like Mau
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像毛这样的导师充满感激，
08:59
who taught me how to navigate.
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他教会了我如何航海。
09:02
And I realize
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我记得
09:04
through a lesson that he shared
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在他教授的一节课中
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that we continue to find our way.
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我们不断地寻找出路。
09:09
And this is what he said:
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这时他说道：
09:12
"The island is the canoe;
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“这岛就是独木舟；
09:14
the canoe, the island."
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这独木舟，这岛。”
09:17
And what he meant was,
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他的意思是，
09:20
if you are voyaging
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如果你正在航行
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and far from home,
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远离家乡，
09:24
your very survival depends
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你的生存依赖于
09:26
on everyone aboard.
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每个在船上的人。
09:29
You cannot make the voyage alone,
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你不能独自航行，
09:32
you were never meant to.
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你从未这么想过。
09:34
This whole notion of every man for himself
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每个人都只为自己的想法
09:36
is completely unsustainable.
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是完全无法持续的。
09:38
It always was.
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一直都是这样。
09:41
So in closing I would offer you this:
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在最后，我想想大家说这些：
09:45
The planet is our canoe,
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这个星球是我们的独木舟，
09:49
and we are the voyagers.
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而我们就是航行者。
09:52
True navigation
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真正的航行
09:54
begins in the human heart.
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从人类的心中开始。
09:57
It's the most important map of all.
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这是最为重要的地图。
10:00
Together, may we journey well.
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让我们一起，祝愿我们路途愉快。
10:03
(Applause)
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（掌声）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Elizabeth Lindsey - Explorer, ethnographerElizabeth Lindsey is a fellow of the National Geographic Society. Her mission: to keep ancestral voices alive by recording indigenous wisdom and traditions.
Why you should listen
Elizabeth Kapu'uwailani Lindsey wants the world to remember the people who came before us. The actor-turned-anthropologist has made it her mission to find, preserve and share the knowledge and traditions of indigenous populations before they disappear. She’s working with Google to create a geospatial Map of the Human Story, using the indigenous science of wayfinding to chart tales at risk of being lost.
In 2011, Lindsey, who's the first female fellow and first Polynesian explorer at the National Geographic Society, will set out on a 186-day global expedition to document what she calls "teachings critical to navigating the complexity of our times." Lindsey’s 1996 documentary Then There Were None, which chronicled the near-extinction of native Hawaiians, has become a must-see in many history classrooms. She was named Hawaii’s Woman of the Year in 2004.
Elizabeth Lindsey | Speaker | TED.com