The Living Legacy Project for Akha Oral Tradition
Classes are taught using the 'Mother Tongue Method,' call and response between teacher and students, just as their forebears learned. The songs, instruments, and stories they absorb in each class are reviewed week after week, so the students accumulate wide musical knowledge. By the fifth month, when their repertoire and self-assurance have grown, students will break into small groups to prepare demonstrations to present their music and stories, solo and in ensembles, at Akha Festivals and at concerts for the general public.
“Time and time again, ethnic guardians of age-old heritage-shamans,headmen, wise elders, artisans, and musicians-lament that that they are the only ones left who remember the practices of their ancestors and that the young generation, born in a new technological age, is not interested in learning 'old-fashioned ways.' Enlivening traditional customs through the Living Legacy Project offers indigenous elders the satisfaction that they can train a new generation so their knowledge, accumulated over thousands of years, will not die with them. Additionally, sharing the videos, recordings, and books based on the Master Musicians' lessons through public concerts, presentations, media, social media, and Cultural Crossroads Asia Exhibits, demonstrates to them how Akha culture will be 'seen and heard' in the bigger world.”
- Founder, Victoria Vorreiter
Truth Telling Project
Consciousness and Healing Initiative
