Recently I have been thinking a lot about family legacy. It was a little difficult this year being so far away from family during the holiday season. It probably hit me harder this year, because I can’t just call and talk to my family and friends back home like I have in years past.
Our big announcement since my last newsletter: Renato and Ingrid’s baby arrived between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
When we were gathered for Christmas, Renato showed me all the things they had packed in the back of the car to be ready to rush to the hospital. Included amongst everything was an electric guitar amp he had packed for the church service. I, jokingly asked Renato if he plans to start teaching Levi guitar before he leaves the hospital. He replied, “I’m ready when he is”.
Here are a couple of pictures Renato and Ingrid would like to share with you all.
I’ve been continuing to work on the Knowledge Weaver’s toolkit. Here is an elevator pitch about what we are doing.
In a world where AI and automation are replacing routine tasks, the real wealth of rural communities lies in what machines can’t replicate: local wisdom and human-centered skills. The Knowledge Weaver’s Toolkit is a practical guide designed to help rural and Indigenous youth turn their community’s "hidden assets"—like traditional ecological practices and ancestral stories—into a competitive advantage in the modern knowledge economy. By combining ancient wisdom with digital tools, the toolkit prepares the next generation for resilient new careers as Agroecological Farmers or Community Growth Coordinators right in their own hometowns.
As I was thinking about Renato and Ingrid documenting Levi’s early years, so I decided to put together some materials on documenting family legacy. I’m providing it as a sample of the “Family Legacy Archivist” section of our toolkit so that you can see what we are working on.
I remember my mom keeping (or trying to keep) a baby book for each of us. Jeff’s was fairly complete, mine was a scrapbook with lots of lose clippings and photos to be assembled when mom got time. John’s and Robert’s were boxes of trinkets. All of those in a drawer along with packages of family photos.
For many generations, it was simply a family bible passed from generation to generation. I remember going through our family bible with my grandma.
Within a ew years, family nostalgia and genealogy has erupted into a multibillion dollar industry.
Technology hasn’t made the family archivist obsolete. This used to be grandma updating the family tree and maybe writing a few notes for births, weddings, and funerals. Today, you can make a small business out of helping families document memories and even niche to specific events. Just think of the entire team that goes into documenting a modern wedding.
We are very close to having the Knowledge Weaver’s Toolkit ready. In fact, by the end of the week, I plan to have a website up based on the Family Legacy Toolkit.
Our goal: building skills (in poor communities) in the knowledge economy.
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