Oral traditions and how Wikipedia preserves them

When we talk about oral traditions, the passing down of stories, songs, and histories through spoken word across generations. Also known as oral history, it's how many communities—especially Indigenous, rural, and marginalized ones—keep their identity alive. Unlike written records, these traditions aren’t locked in books; they live in voices, ceremonies, and memory. Yet for decades, Wikipedia treated them as unreliable, pushing out entire cultures from its pages. That’s changing. Editors now recognize that just because something isn’t printed doesn’t mean it’s not true. The real issue isn’t the medium—it’s who gets to decide what counts as a "reliable source."

That’s where Wikidata, a central database that links facts across languages and projects comes in. It lets editors store details from oral histories—like names of elders, event dates, or cultural practices—without forcing them into the rigid citation style of Wikipedia articles. Meanwhile, GLAM-Wiki projects, collaborations between museums, libraries, and Wikipedia volunteers are working directly with communities to record and share their stories. From Maori chants in New Zealand to Yoruba proverbs in Nigeria, these efforts treat oral traditions not as footnotes, but as core knowledge.

It’s not easy. Wikipedia’s rules were built for academic journals and newspapers. But editors are adapting. They now accept peer-verified oral accounts when backed by ethnographers, community leaders, or documented fieldwork. They use WikiProject tools, banners and worklists that help organize editing efforts to tag articles needing better sourcing from oral sources. And they’re pushing back against the idea that only Western-style documentation counts. The goal? To make Wikipedia reflect the full range of human memory—not just the written kind.

What you’ll find below are real stories from editors who’ve fought to include oral traditions on Wikipedia. You’ll see how they worked with elders, navigated copyright gray zones, and turned long-standing biases into better policies. These aren’t abstract debates—they’re about who gets remembered, and how.