Before It's Too Late
/One woman’s quest to save endangered memories
Shannon Prince was the first black person many Mongolians had ever seen, and as a result, they were often curious about her skin and hair. (Photo courtesy SHannon Prince)
“For [my grandparents], the forest was like a pharmacy. For me, it’s more like a medicine cabinet.”
— Shannon Prince
Shannon Prince comes from a family with a rich relationship to the natural world. Her Cherokee ancestors were skilled at using plants to heal the deepest of wounds, and Shannon grew up with the understanding that nature could — quite literally — save you.
But her family’s eco-literacy had been stripped away over the generations, and by the time Shannon came along, there wasn’t much left to teach her.
Yearning to rediscover forgotten knowledge, Shannon traveled across the world, to a place where ancient traditions were more intact than her own.
On this episode, she shares her story. It’s a story that takes us from Houston, Texas, to the remote meadows of Outer Mongolia. And it explores the surprising things that can happen to us on a personal level, when we attempt to preserve a way of life that’s slowly being stripped away.
