The Adventurers
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The intriguing four-part series The Adventurers is about maverick explorers searching for vanishing populations, lost cultures and hidden cities - proving that there are people and places out there that the rest of us are barely aware of.
Andrew Gregg, director, writer and producer of all four episodes of The Adventurers , explains the genesis of the series: "Cultures all over the world are on the brink of disappearing," Gregg says. "We started out wanting to profile Ian Mackenzie and his work with the Penan of Borneo and then we were drawn to other scientists who have been working to resurrect the stories of lost peoples. It was an amazing experience and I think that shows up in the films. They are filled with exotic adventure and incredible discoveries."
The Last Nomads
A Penan chief
Linguist Ian Mackenzie has tracked the last true nomadic hunting and gathering people on earth - the Penan of Borneo. Their way of life is quickly disappearing as aggressive logging interests swallow up their forest habitat. Mackenzie has spent years compiling the very first dictionary of the unique Penan language - a language that has words for every forest plant and creature, a language that is a window into an entirely different way of seeing the world. It is also a language on the edge of disappearing. A beautiful, but heart-breaking look at a very singular people on the brink of obliteration.
Saturday January 26 at 1 pm on CBC-TV
The Everlasting Oasis
A skull wall
For 400,000 years, a remote Egyptian oasis has been inhabited by waves of people- from stone age man to modern-day Muslims. Egyptologist Tony Mills and his team are unearthing artifacts and examining skeletal remains of "the other Egypt," far away from the pyramids and the Nile. The sands surrounding the Dakhleh Oasis conceal mysteries of life dating back long before recorded history - back before the Sahara Desert even existed.
A Story Told in Stone
Archeologist Edmundo Edwards with a tiki-head
The French Polynesian islands once housed thriving native populations that were tragically wiped out by European disease. The vines and trees of the jungles consumed huge stone cities that sprawled across the interiors of Tahiti, Raivavae and the Marquesas Islands. The structures remained forgotten until archeologist Edmundo Edwards rediscovered them. Now, with each swipe of his machete, Edmundo is bringing to light a world that no one has ever imagined existed.
The Lost People of the Baja
Luis Herrara recreating a Pericu
Canadian paleo-pathologist Eldon Molto is leading the search for clues of the mysterious Pericu people of Baja California, Mexico - a fierce, independent tribe that disappeared over a century ago, after being exposed to European disease. They left virtually nothing behind but their bones. But by using DNA, Molto is piecing together the story of the Pericu and along the way makes a surprising discovery that raises questions about identity and our own existence.
The Adventurers was produced by Gordon Henderson of 90th Parallel Productions and Michael Allder of The Nature of Things.
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