PRESERVING REFUGEE CULTURAL HERITAGE: TAKING COMMUNITY AND CULTURE INTO ACCOUNT
Nora J. Bird, Clara M. Chu and Fatih Oguz Department of Library and Information Studies
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Documentation and scholarship as a process of empowering the “Other” “…multicultural and globalized digital libraries would
guarantee the right for all cultural voices to be included, would acquire the necessary funding to pursue multicultural projects, and would enable underrepresented voices to speak for themselves, to determine what cultural heritage and community (including individual) experiences are to be digitized, and how the information will be accessed (limited or full access, language, interface, etc.)” (Chu, 2008)
scholarship of dialogue is “a framework for rethinking and reformulating who will conduct…research, how it will be conducted, what the focus of the research will be, how it will be disseminated, who provides the leadership and who speaks for the diverse constituencies.” (Chu, 2005, p. 430) respect, critical thinking, praxis, and conscientisation
Scaffold
AGENCY
PRESERVATION
REFUGEE
“intangible” CULTURAL HERITAGE
project APRCH
Agency
Objects of exile (abandonment and loss)
A clue to her mother’s circumspect nature arrived inadvertently when Ms. Vang stumbled upon an unopened suitcase in her closet. It contained the tattered embroidered jacket she wore as a girl the night she had to flee her Laotian village. Such tangible remnants, which she [Vang] calls “objects of exile,” triggered her mother’s concealed memories. (Brown, 2011)
Agency through writing
(Brown, 2011)
Coming to terms with their parents’ experience, from Laos to Fresno, and preserving it in the printed word is the major impetus for Soul Choj Vang and his colleagues:
Now, here I am, adopted citizen, Not rooted in this land, unable to taste The spirit in its dust, To sense its moods in the pollen. How do I begin my song?
“Our parents will never write,” Ms. Vang said. “So we write for them.”
Preservation
PRESERVATION
What must be preserved can’t be determined by well-meaning information professionals focused on building a system to organize and house.
We must ask what and observe how intangible cultural heritage objects are used.
We must ask, “What does the Laotian cloth coat means to Ms. Vang’s mother and how would she want it to be preserved.”
Authentic Preservation
Document (record for posterity) in a manner that fits the objects and the producing community
Perpetuate (ongoing practice/survival) within community (and outside, as appropriate)
Disseminate (make accessible) to the producing community and the wider community, including members of the diaspora.
Refugees
Refugees as a “Group”
Cannot assume common issues for refugees as a group but do they exist?
Same country but different ethnicities, tribes, loyalties, religions, languages.
Same culture but of different religions
Some cultures are oral/pre-literate
Image: http://www.worldreliefmn.org/about-refugees/who-are-refugees/
Special needs – 1st generation
Not the same as voluntary immigrants Experiencing culture shock, post-trauma (war,
displacement, refugee camps) Stress of poverty in U.S. Language issues Social isolation Education Health impacts Family power structure – women’s roles
Special needs – 2nd Generation
Impending cultural loss from aging first generation
Need to feel success, to not deny their culture
Cultural integration
Working with Refugees
Build trust, be involved in activities Helpful activities: soccer team,
cultural activities, craft group Work with cultural or religious
organizations and service agencies to connect with communities
Image: http://www.refugee-action.org.uk/assets/0000/5490/Volunteer_With_Us_-_Refugee_Action_-_Gwen_Jones_2011_overview.jpg?1366126700
The UNESCO Definition
(Intangible) Cultural Heritage
Traditional, contemporary, and
living at the same time
Represents not only inherited traditions but contemporary rural and urban practices
Hmong Story Cloth
Touger Vang’s personal collection
New Traditions from Refugee Camp
Science Museum of Minnesota staff member Mr. Sue Thao writes:
"Story cloths are a commercial product of the refugee camps in Thailand, depicting people's life stories. It is not traditional Hmong stitching. And it is not how our elders pass stories from generation to generation. Our stories are passed down orally generation to generation." (The Hmong Foundation)
Inclusive
Expressions are passed from one generation to another and evolve in response to their environments.
They link the past, present, and future.
Younger Generation
Agency is crucial for the new generation. They can be encouraged to meld the past and
present to create their own sense of the future. Cultural heritage institutions can be the site and
impetus for this activity.
Knowledge of Traditions
Several weeks ago, Ying Thao, 29, discovered, while watching a travelogue on Hmong TV, that his mother was a master artisan in Laos, celebrated for making hemp cloth from scratch. “Here in Fresno, she goes to Hancock Fabrics, JoAnn or Walmart,” he observed. “I sensed she didn’t want to be reminded of herself.” (Brown, 2011)
Image: http://www.floweringmoon.com/hmong7.JPG
PRESERVING MONTAGNARD REFUGEE CULTURAL HERITAGE: UNDERSTANDING PRIORITIES THROUGH INTERGENERATIONAL DIALOGUE
Funded Project*:
* Project is funded by a Coalition for Diverse Language Communities Fellowship http://cdlc.uncg.edu
CDLC-funded project*
* Project is funded by a Coalition for Diverse Language Communities Fellowship http://cdlc.uncg.edu
The quote in previous slide is evidence of the invisibility and silence around refugees passing down and sharing their culture, creating a disconnect between generations and the community at large.
research and activities addressing the needs of the refugee communities in the Piedmont Triad have tended to focus on resettlement, employment, health, education and social services.
In a new homeland, refugees communities are not only facing the adversity of being displaced and fleeing persecution, but having to resettle with little else but their culture and memories.
Why the Montagnards?
Image: http://backstrapweaving.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/more-progress.jpg?w=500&h=187
Of the many refugee communities in the Triad, the Montagnards were selected because as a traditional oral community the preservation of their culture faces greater challenges. Settling in the Triad since the mid-1980s, Guilford County is home to the largest Montagnard community living outside of Vietnam, whose culture consists of at least 5 major language groups and various dialects.
Design (APRCH)
a young Montagnard (12) will interview an elder Montagnard (12) – snowball sample
intergenerational approach strives to enhance authenticity, cultural and linguistic respect, and learning within the community
Young Montagnards will learn about cultural heritage and its preservation through interviewing elder about what and how they wish to document, perpetuate and disseminate their culture
Survey and focus group prior to training workshop and focus group post interview
Montagnard culture event
APRCH: Impacts
Intercultural dialogue between refugee groups. Diaspora connections for groups studied. Educational resources for the wider community. Model program of authentic preservation practices.
Photo by Andria Lo: http://newamericamedia.org/m_chang_hmong_500x279.jpg
Cultural Heritage Preservation: Our work and selected resources
Project APRCH – A website for learning and sharing resources that uses a community-grounded approach to learn, understand and conduct preservation of refugee cultural
heritage. http://aprch.wordpress.com/ folklife, traditional life Memory Projects: preservation, promotion, and
celebration of culture and history cultural heritage preservation
THANK YOU!
APRCH website. http://aprch.wordpress.com/
Bailey, R. (2005). New Immigrant Communities in the North Carolina Piedmont Triad: Integration Issues and Challenges. In E. M. Gozdziak & S. F. Martin (Eds.), Beyond the Gateway: Immigrants in a Changing America (57-86). Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books.
Brown, P.L. (2011) “A Hmong Generation Finds Its Voice in Writing,” New York Times. December 31, 2011. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/us/a-hmong-generation-finds-its-voice-in-writing.html.
Chu, Clara M. (2005). ‘Web-based communities scholarship: from silence to dialogue’, Int. J. Web Based Communities, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 423–435.
Chu, Clara M. Multiculturalism and Globalization: Implications for Asian Digital Libraries (ppt). NDAP International Conference (National Digital Archives Program, Taiwan), 18-20th March 2008; Taipei. Retrieved from www.ndap.org.tw/96AnnualExhibition/.../ndap2008-chu-final.pdf
The Hmong Foundation, Inc. Hmong Flower Cloth (Story Cloth). Retrieved from http://www.hmongfoundation.com/page/show/182739-cultural-programs-and-activities
UNESCO (2012). What is Intangible Cultural Heritage? Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?pg=00002
Q & A
REFERENCES
