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Communities

The Hawaiian islands, from left to right, Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Maui and the Big Island.

Paul Theroux’s Quest to Define Hawaii

For this renowned travel writer, no place has proved harder to decipher than his home for the past 22 years

The narrow-gauge Durango & Silverton train steams through history above the Animas River.

Smithsonian Best Small Towns 2012

The 20 Best Small Towns in America of 2012

From the Berkshires to the Cascades, we’ve crunched the numbers and pulled a list some of the most interesting spots around the country

Isolation allowed the Kurds to survive for thousands of years while other cultures faded from history.

Kurdish Heritage Reclaimed

After years of conflict, Turkey’s tradition-rich Kurdish minority is experiencing a joyous cultural reawakening

If destruction continues unimpeded, preservationists will run out of time to save Kashgar's Uighur quarter.

Demolishing Kashgar’s History

A vital stop on China’s ancient Silk Road, the Uighur city of Kashgar may lose its old quarter to plans for “progress”

"My memories of Worthington are ... colored by what went on with my father," says Tim O'Brien.

From Brooklyn to Worthington, Minnesota

Novelist Tim O’Brien revisits his past to come to terms with his rural hometown

Amy Herman at the Metropolitan Museum with Sargent's Madame X asks her class of cops, "How would you describe this woman in one sentence?"

Teaching Cops to See

At New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Amy Herman schools police in the fine art of deductive observation

Some 80 million "lost" pages include records of people and police assassination orders.

A Human Rights Breakthrough in Guatemala

A chance discovery of police archives may reveal the fate of tens of thousands of people who disappeared in Guatemala’s civil war

Group of people cheering and waving Irish flags during the St. Patrick's Day parade in New York City.

Unusual St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations

Leprechauns and green shamrocks are only a part of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day for Irish communities around the world

Bill Fitzhugh maps the blacksmith’s shop’s floor, 2008. The Smithsonian research vessel PItsuilak rides at anchor in the bay. Fitzhugh and his team live aboard the boat, which takes its name from the Inuit word for a seabird, during their excavations.

The Basques Were Here

In arctic Canada, a Smithsonian researcher discovers evidence of Basque trading with North America

Equatorial Africa's rain forests have sustained Pygmies for millennia. Now other peoples are competing for the forests' resources, displacing the Pygmies.

The Pygmies’ Plight

A correspondent who chronicled their lives in central African rain forests returns a decade later and is shocked by what he finds

The new Kogi village of Dumingueka.

Colombia Dispatch 5: The Kogi Way of Life

Hidden in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, a Kogi village built with government support combines modernity with ancient traditions

Conspiracists try to decode Masonic symbols, like those in the temple's stained-glass window.

The Lost Symbol’s Masonic Temple

Conspiracy buffs, including author Dan Brown, tour the lavish Washington, D.C. temple of the Freemasons

On the lookout for enemies, a warrior named Ta'van leads a patrol through the jungle. Several hundred Indians—some never seen by outsiders—live in the Amazon's Javari Valley.

Out of Time

The volatile Korubo of the Amazon still live in almost total isolation. Indian tracker Sydney Possuelo is trying to keep their world intact

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It’s Not What You Do That Counts, It’s What You Belong To

Got that left-out feeling? Don’t despair. Even if you’re a bit odd or downright frumpy, there’s probably a society of kindred souls

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