Digital Ancestral Archives: Blockchain Technology and the Preservation of Indigenous African Oral Traditions in the Metaverse Era

Abstract

The preservation of Indigenous African oral traditions faces unprecedented challenges in the digital age, where cultural heritage risks commodification, misappropriation, and loss through technological disruption. This research explores the intersection of blockchain technology and metaverse environments as innovative frameworks for safeguarding African oral traditions while maintaining community ownership and cultural authenticity. Through examining case studies, technological implementations, and theoretical frameworks, this paper demonstrates how distributed ledger technologies can establish immutable cultural records, enable community-governed access systems, and create sustainable economic models for knowledge preservation. The findings suggest that blockchain-enabled digital archives, when combined with immersive metaverse experiences, offer transformative potential for intergenerational knowledge transfer while addressing historical concerns of cultural extraction and intellectual property violations. This study contributes to emerging scholarship on digital cultural preservation, Indigenous data sovereignty, and the ethical deployment of emerging technologies in postcolonial contexts.