Library Project, Page 2

Choosing a Culture to Study

If you do not already have a culture to research in mind, these resources might help you find one. Some good places to learn about the world's peoples are the following:

• Cultural Survival (“promoting the rights, voices, and visions of indigenous peoples”)
• Indigenous Peoples (from RainForestWeb.org)
• The Library of Congress' Global Gateway
• Countries and Their Cultures
• Aboriginal Links International
• Yahoo's World Culture List
• Archeolink Anthropology

You should bear a few things in mind:

• Remember that you must select a living culture. For instance, you cannot write about the ancient Maya, but you can write about the indigenous Mayan people of modern Mesoamerica.
• Language is a primary identifier of ethnicity. If the group you are choosing does not speak a common language, you may have selected too large a group.
• There are alternate spellings for the names of many indigenous cultures. Check Ethnologue.com for variations on the name of your culture. For example, the language of many indigenous people in Peru is Quechua, but it is also spelled Qheswa. Knowing alternative spelling will make your information searches more complete.

Choose several cultures you might be interested in researching, in case you cannot find enough information on your first choice. The only way to determine whether or not you will have enough information to do your research report is to start checking for sources, so proceed to page 3.