Our values distinguish us in the field of intangible cultural heritage preservation.
Bhutan Oral Literature Project Values
1. We are community-based. We believe that cultural heritage projects work best when they are driven by the needs and the wishes of the community.
2. We use a multi-disciplinary methodology. The richness of oral literature cannot be fully understood from the perspective of only one discipline.
3. Our field staff are members of the community they work in and speakers of that language group. Community members have greater access to and a greater understanding of the full range of oral literature within their own community.
4. The cornerstones of our research are,"Language, Culture, Environment". To fully appreciate traditional knowledge, we target the most complex and the most vulnerable sources of indigenous knowledge.
Community-Based
The people of Komathrang, Wangdi Phodrang asked us to record and print the chants of the Loco festival as they were being forgotten. (Komthrang, Dzongkha)
Multi-Disciplinary Approach
Drawing from the fields of linguistics, anthropology, history, literature, and environmental sciences, we ensure an in-depth and complex understanding of the rich oral literature of Bhutan in order to preserve and understand its meaning for generations yet to come. (Satakha, Lhop)
Community Members and Native Language Speaking Field Staff
In order to have a comprehensive understanding of the language, culture, and environmental information that we record, we hire field staff within their own communities. Often, entire communities will join with us in the preservation of their traditional knowledge. (Rukha, 'Ole)
Language, Culture, Environment
As modernization increases, the knowledge embedded in the traditional language, cultural practices, and the relationship to the environment are quickly lost. The accumulated knowledge of generational experience, once lost, can never be regained. (Phobjika, Lakha)