Aborah advocates for documentation of indigenous knowledge to prevent cultural distortion
Culture activist Wenawome Duriyem Aborah urges communities to document indigenous knowledge and traditions to preserve their authenticity and prevent cultural distortion.
Culture activist Wenawome Duriyem Aborah has called for stronger documentation of Ghana’s indigenous knowledge and traditional practices to prevent them from being lost, distorted or misrepresented.
Speaking on the Big Mike Breakfast Show on Tuesday, September 1, Aborah said the rapid growth of digital platforms had made it urgent for communities to properly document their traditions before inaccurate information about them became widely circulated.
He stressed that the documentation of traditional knowledge must involve people with a deep understanding of the practices and their cultural significance.
According to him, documenting indigenous traditions without adequate consultation with local communities could allow outsiders to attach meanings to them that do not accurately reflect their cultural origins.
“This is the danger we are in now. So it is high time our leaders wake up. Our forefathers left a good, remarkable traditional practice for us,” he said.
Aborah also cautioned against relying solely on oral transmission to preserve traditional knowledge, noting that valuable information could be lost when knowledgeable elders pass away without transferring their knowledge to younger generations.
“There is the need for us to have diverse conversations to arrive at something concrete to be put on the internet,” he said.
He said such documentation should bring together traditional practitioners, elders, young people, researchers and the media to ensure that information on indigenous cultures and practices was properly verified before being preserved digitally.
Aborah disclosed that his team was also exploring programmes with radio stations to encourage the use of indigenous languages in everyday communication.
He explained that such initiatives would provide platforms for people to share their knowledge of local languages and traditional practices while encouraging younger generations to develop a greater interest in their cultural heritage.
The culture activist further noted that emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, could increase the demand for authentic African cultural content in the future.
“Time to come, they will pay people to speak orally for people to listen, because everything is going to be based on artificial intelligence,” he said.
Aborah therefore encouraged communities to take advantage of technology to preserve their traditions in their authentic forms rather than allowing outsiders to define their culture for them.
He also urged young people to learn from traditional knowledge holders while they still had the opportunity, stressing that cultural preservation required a collective effort involving individuals, families, communities and traditional institutions.
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