Preserving indigenous cultural narratives through mixed-media and digital animation

This study addresses the urgent need to preserve endangered indigenous narratives by examining how mixed-media stop-motion animation can serve as a culturally situated research and artistic method. Focusing on Rukai birth rituals and the symbolic use of medicinal herbs, this study addresses the underrepresentation of indigenous ecological knowledge and embodied ritual practices within digital and visual arts research. Focusing on Rukai birth rituals and the symbolic use of medicinal herbs, this study adopts a qualitative, ethnographic, and practice-based approach that integrates cultural fieldwork, participant observation, and material experimentation. Through the combination of organic materials and digital techniques, oral histories and ritual knowledge are translated into visual narratives. Audience responses indicate strong cultural resonance and positive engagement with the animated work, supporting its effectiveness as both a creative outcome and research medium. The findings demonstrate that mixed-media animation not only enhances audience engagement and cultural understanding but also provides a viable and scalable methodological framework for translating embodied indigenous knowledge into accessible and emotionally resonant visual forms. This study contributes to visual studies and cultural preservation by offering a practice-based model that expands possibilities for sustaining and reinterpreting indigenous cultural knowledge in contemporary media contexts.