The Culture Warriors!
The Culture Warriors! are presently a small group of 4 young men in their twenties. Often, young indigenous men and women complain they have no future. They are stuck between two worlds and often turn against themselves.
While I was on Yap in the Caroline Islands out in the Western Pacific, I needed to find not only someone who could translate for me during my interviews with the elders, but someone who could help me find older people whom I could photograph, record and interview. The young men who assisted me, took me to meet their grandparents. During the time I was recording the stories, my assistant would light up. I assumed, incorrectly, that he was familiar with the story his grandmother was reciting and was warmed by it. But no, he'd never heard it before! It was through my journeying seven thousand miles and my enthusiasm for the story, that he found it beautiful and worthwhile. 5c much 50, that he and the others would like to continue to search out traditional stories and interesting personal histories to record for the Sol Project.

To accomplish this goal, I need to provide 5 to 10 mini DVD video cameras, multiple tapes, pads of paper and pens to arm this new group of Island youth, now calling themselves, The Culture Warriors! The name was chosen during our first meeting last January 2002. While this may seem to be a modest number of video cameras, I feel it is better to begin small and expand on what's already in place when the time is right.

The benefits of this project are many; it will provide island youth an opportunity to interact with and learn from the elder generation in a new way. (it is really an old way, but lost to the younger generation) The Sol Project will pay each youth, 20 USD for every story on tape and transcription into English they make, helping them to understand their culture has value. The tapes will be transferred onto CD. As mentioned above, copies will go out to the Education Department and the Cultural Preservation Office of Micronesia, as well as to the families and schools around Micronesia and the University of Hawaii. The Pacific Islanders all share close cultural and family ties, so it seemed logical that Hawaii should be included in this project as a wider focal point.

The Education department of Yap Island will oversee the project, checking the equipment out and in between interviews. The more youth I can involve, the more ground can be covered and the more stories we can collect for the cultural archive. Eventually, I would like to use this model in other parts of the pacific and the world.