  Nearby dwarf galaxies are local analogues of high-redshift and metal-poor
stellar populations. Most of these systems ceased star formation long ago, but
they retain signatures of their past that can be unraveled by detailed study of
their resolved stars. Archaeological examination of dwarf galaxies with
resolved stellar spectroscopy provides key insights into the first stars and
galaxies, galaxy formation in the smallest dark matter halos, stellar
populations in the metal-free and metal-poor universe, the nature of the first
stellar explosions, and the origin of the elements. Extremely large telescopes
with multi-object R=5,000-30,000 spectroscopy are needed to enable such studies
for galaxies of different luminosities throughout the Local Group.
