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The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World (The CBC Massey Lectures) Paperback – October 13, 2009

by Wade Davis (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 528 ratings
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Every culture is a unique answer to a fundamental question: What does it mean to be human and alive? Anthropologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis leads us on a thrilling journey to celebrate the wisdom of the world’s indigenous cultures.
In Polynesia we set sail with navigators whose ancestors settled the Pacific ten centuries before Christ. In the Amazon we meet the descendants of a true Lost Civilization, the people of the Anaconda. In the Andes we discover that the Earth really is alive, while in the far reaches of Australia we experience Dreamtime, the all-embracing philosophy of the first humans to walk out of Africa. We then travel to Nepal, where we encounter a wisdom hero, a Bodhisattva, who emerges from forty-five years of Buddhist retreat and solitude. And finally we settle in Borneo, where the last rainforest nomads struggle to survive.
Understanding the lessons of this journey will be our mission for the next century. For at risk is the human legacy — a vast archive of knowledge and expertise, a catalogue of the imagination. Rediscovering a new appreciation for the diversity of the human spirit, as expressed by culture, is among the central challenges of our time.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    280 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    House of Anansi Press
  4. Publication date
    October 13, 2009
  5. Dimensions
    5.25 x 0.75 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0887847668
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0887847660
  8. See all details
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About the Author

Wade Davis is professor of anthropology and the B.C. Leadership Chair in Cultures and Ecosystems at Risk at the University of British Columbia. Between 1999 and 2013 he served as Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society and is currently a member of the NGS Explorers Council and Honorary Vice-President of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. Named by the NGS as one of the Explorers for the Millennium, he has been described as “a rare combination of scientist, scholar, poet and passionate defender of all of life’s diversity.” In 2014, Switzerland’s leading think tank, the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute of Zurich, ranked him 16th in their annual survey of the top 100 most influential global Thought Leaders.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ House of Anansi Press; First Edition (October 13, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 280 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0887847668
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0887847660
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.75 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 528 ratings

About the author

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Wade Davis

Wade Davis

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Wade Davis (born December 14, 1953) CM is a Canadian anthropologist, ethnobotanist, author, and photographer whose work has focused on worldwide indigenous cultures, especially in North and South America and particularly involving the traditional uses and beliefs associated with psychoactive plants. Davis came to prominence with his 1985 best-selling book The Serpent and the Rainbow about the zombies of Haiti. Davis is Professor of Anthropology and the BC Leadership Chair in Cultures and Ecosystems at Risk at the University of British Columbia.

Davis has published popular articles in Outside, National Geographic, Fortune, and Condé Nast Traveler.

Davis is an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society. Named by the NGS as one of the Explorers for the Millennium, he has been described as “a rare combination of scientist, scholar, poet and passionate defender of all of life’s diversity.” In recent years his work has taken him to East Africa, Borneo, Nepal, Peru, Polynesia, Tibet, Mali, Benin, Togo, New Guinea, Australia, Colombia, Vanuatu, Mongolia, and the high Arctic of Nunuvut and Greenland.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by [Cpt. Muji] (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
528 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Austin Hagwood
5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Constellation of Cultures
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2016
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Birdcalls echo in the rainforests of Borneo as the Penan hunter crouches before a kill. Inuit glide across the wind-scoured ice. Kogi priests traverse Colombian coral reefs and cloud forests to learn contours of the landscape entrusted to their care. In the published edition of his five Massey Lectures, Wade Davis seeks to answer the question “What does it mean to be human and alive?” with portraits of culture spanning centuries and terrain. It’s a rare work of anthropology illustrating the vitality of human imagination from Himalayan peaks to the southern sea; Davis brings new attention to peoples still practicing ancient arts and writes with the voice of a lyrical novelist. Anything but a detached textbook, it remains a work as fascinating as it is beautiful to read. And in depicting new dreams of the Earth, Davis presents one of his own.

Why do we speak the languages we do? How did humanity journey out of Africa millennia ago and come to settle every corner of the habitable world? In examining the planet’s constellation of cultures, Davis argues that thousands of languages and millions of lifeways are as threatened as species comprising the biosphere. The loss of either has equal significance for the flourishing of our world. To read his book is to discover a love letter to our species and develop a new understanding of the diversity of human endeavor. The images are robust: San sipping water from ostrich eggs beneath the sweltering Kalahari sun, a steadfast wayfinder aboard the open-decked Hokule’a crashing through waves on a journey across the Pacific and into the Polynesian spirit, travels into the jade canopy of the Amazon rainforest - realm of the jaguar shaman. A former National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, Davis writes from firsthand experience based on decades of fieldwork and creates a sense of eyewitness any travel writer would envy while never deviating from scholarly precision.

As a historical text, the book is exhaustively researched and includes an annotated bibliography with years of reading material for those interested in anthropology and natural history. While acknowledging Western culture’s triumphs and contributions, Davis also explores the consequences of colonialism. Losing connection with other ways of living carries environmental and psychological costs, and the character of culture is inextricably linked to the spirit of place. The Tendai marathon monks of Japan, Andean pilgrimages, or Songlines of Aboriginal Australia represent exquisite achievements in human thought, and Davis interrogates the extent to which a singular culture produces a singular mindset. Yet the book remains hopeful. Why does Davis have faith in our ability to mend ages of destruction? Because of the tenacity and ingenuity of the human journey he himself celebrates. An unforgettable read both for the energy of its author and the poetry of its language, The Wayfinders inspired me to pursue anthropology more than any other text.
18 people found this helpful
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Love People
5.0 out of 5 stars pouring us a truly sweet sip of the great adventures of which he has ...
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2015
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So rarely can a single book, much less a non-fiction book, awaken the mind with such luminescent intelligence, kick-start the heart with its poetic prose and set a cleansing fire to the spirit with its primordial truth. While Wade Davis masterfully navigates us through the far-flung hidden waters of our own world, pouring us a truly sweet sip of the great adventures of which he has embarked, this book is not just about the journeys of one man or of one people. It is about all of us. It is about where we came from, where we are, and what we must do moving forward, for all of us. With his words, Davis builds a shelter in our minds and hearts with wisdom dug deep from the soils of our human earth. With every passing page, the weight of what has happened, what is happening, and what will happen to us all if we don't protect and reconnect with our ancient roots, transcends the page and mind to sit heavy on the heart . . . and yet, the lightness of hope and the sheer wondrous beauty of our living brothers and sisters loving us from afar, inspires one to take flight.

Davis can and does speak to the scholar in us, but he prefers to connect with us, and connect us all, as compassionate sentient beings inhabiting a planet together; as collective caretakers of culture; protectors of a deep truth that has bound us all since the beginning, but is being tragically bulldozed and blanketed by the belief that tomorrow's days cannot include yesterday's dreams: the peoples who still embody, on this day, our ancient noble lineages and sacred truths. Far from being foregone conclusions; by-gone anachronisms doomed to dust, Davis reminds and re-inspires us that these cultures in his book are in-fact whom we should aspire to be like. He gives them their long overdue respect as the phenomenal blood-pumping beings that they are, not just some scholarly subject of habits and rituals or overly mystified as quaint characters in an exotic fairytale. Far from it: their actions, traditions, wisdom and convictions soar above our modern selves.

If you can't tell by now, this book touched every sense and sentience I have, every step of the way. Such is the calling card of a true masterpiece. It has and continues to inspire me on a weekly basis, its words and message forever a part of me, its cause now my own. If I had all the money in the world, I would hand out a copy to all and make it required reading of schoolchildren in every country. My hats off and sincerest gratitude to Mr. Wade Davis.
6 people found this helpful
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Dr. Susan Petro
4.0 out of 5 stars Well informed but dry...
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2017
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I'd like to rave about this book as the Wayfinder was a breakthrough paradigm for me when I read Martha Beck's book Finding Your Way in the Wild New World. I can't quite manage though as this turns out to be a rather dry, albeit well informed academic writing. If you don't mind the more research oriented approach, read it. Otherwise read Martha Beck's and, strangely enough, watch Moana, a Disney animated film that truly depicts the Wayfinder in a magical fashion.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Xd
5.0 out of 5 stars Magnifico
Reviewed in Mexico on April 6, 2021
Verified Purchase
Magnifico libro que recomiendo mucho a los que les interesa la historia de las culturas en el mundo
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars I’m particularly interested in worldviews and how they can change over time and this book describes in wonderful detail how indi
Reviewed in Canada on May 2, 2016
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This was an incredibly thought provoking and fascinating read. I’m particularly interested in worldviews and how they can change over time and this book describes in wonderful detail how indigenous cultures express the "human spirit," as Davis says. What is perhaps most incredible about these cultures is that despite unbelievable odds -- including the theft of lands, language, culture, and even children -- many have managed to persist even today. Wade Davis' book is important for so many reasons but for me it is particularly salient given our current trajectory toward annihilation -- fuelled by our addiction to endless growth on a finite planet. A change in worldview (here in the west) that incorporates ancient (and current) indigenous knowledge and honours our relationship with the living world will be essential in order to reverse the damage we've already done. This book is essential reading if you're interested in a livable future.
3 people found this helpful
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Tessie Humble
5.0 out of 5 stars Changed my global perspective
Reviewed in Germany on March 5, 2016
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This is the second time I bought this book. I have it away immediately after reading it the first time, as I think everyone should read it, but I actually mourned not having it. First time thats happened. It completely changed my perspective on humanity in this world and priorities of the planet. If I could meet Wade Davis in person, I would thank him profusely.
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Magnus Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful and beautifully written
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 31, 2013
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This is a wonderful book. I found it was so beautifully written and thought provoking I could not put it down. Wade Davis has distilled years of research and interest into a single volume. The book demonstrates why we should not dismiss all traditional practices as mere superstition and why we should pay more attention to wisdom that has evolved socially over thousands of years. He highlights the travesty of the disappearing cultures and languages which far exceeds (and is related to) the rate of biodiversity loss. I am a scientist and a rationalist but I was utterly convinced by his explanations of how seafaring Polynesians navigate by skill and instinct and the intimate relationships that various peoples of the forest, desert and ice have with their worlds. The western worldview is only one among many and does a lot of harm when imposed on cultures that it doesn't fit.
9 people found this helpful
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blair
5.0 out of 5 stars Eyes wide open
Reviewed in Canada on February 26, 2023
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Great read, excellent source for the high school course used in.
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