萬那杜文化中心是依據萬那杜法律成立的法定組織，主要是為了支持、鼓勵萬那杜各面向的文化遺產的保存與發展，並為其提供經濟上的保障。萬那杜文化中心從1960年代成立以來，實際上扮演的主要是記錄萬那杜文化與歷史的角色，這些成果都是由文化中心的職員以及島上約60位自願田野工作者組成的團隊完成的。

萬那杜文化中心主要詳實記錄口述歷史與傳統（後者也叫神話傳說）、宗教儀式、分類系統和語言，還有文化地景－－尤其是具有重大文化意義的場址，以及現下具歷史意義與文化的活動記錄。活動記錄（就是實踐中的歷史）通常以影片記錄；其他資料範本（通常是儀式相關）是為了音樂學的呈現而蒐集，剩下的則是以錄音帶記錄。這是因為原住民文化通常以口述為多，因此文化知識也以口傳的形式保存與流傳。

除了口傳性質外，萬那杜文化中心記錄的資料還有一個共通的特點，就是它們的保存皆受現今的專利形式保護，這些資料的取得涉及資料的關係人、家族、或是更大的文化團體。被記錄下來的知識由文化中心保存，作為復振失傳的文化儀式時的參考資料來源。

The Vanuatu Cultural Center is a statutory body under the laws of Vanuatu whose primary function is “to support, encourage and make provisions for the preservation, protection and development of various aspects of the cultural heritage of Vanuatu”. In practice, the principle role of the Vanuatu Cultural Center since its establishment in the 1960s, has been to document and record the culture and cultural history of Vanuatu. This has been done by the Cultural Center staff and a network of approximately 60 volunteer field workers throughout the islands of Vanuatu.

The main focus of our documentation efforts are details of remembered histories and traditions (the latter are also called legends), details of ritual practices, classification systems and languages., details of cultural landscapes and particularly sites of cultural significance, and records of contemporary events of historical and cultural significance. The latter (which is essentially history-in-making) is recorded on video; examples of (usually ritual) material are collected for musicological display, but amongst everything else is documented on audio tape. his is because indigenous cultures are oral and therefore all our cultural knowledge is retained and transmitted orally.

Apart from its oral nature, the other commonalities with all the material we document are the parts of it are owned in much the the same fashion as modern patents are held, and access to the material is restricted in often complex system to certain engendered individuals, family groups, or larger cultural groups. This documented knowledge is held by the Cultural Center and has been used as source material for the revival of certain traditional cultural practices no longer being practiced.