This research uses AI-powered markerless motion capture to preserve Indigenous cultural dances as digital archives. By recording thousands of movement data points, it safeguards intangible cultural heritage for future generations. The work aims to extend this technology globally, ensuring every culture has the tools to preserve its unique traditions.

This research explores the material culture of the Hindu Pushti Marg tradition by tracing the objects used to care for the child deity Krishna. Through ethnographic work in India and the United States, the thesis reveals how sacred worlds are sustained through often-unrecognized labor crossing boundaries of caste, gender, and religion.