Preserve Your Culture

Look at any object in your house, meal you eat, or gesture you use, and you'll find evidence of culture. Cultural traditions and perspectives have shaped who you are. Learn more about them and how you can keep them strong.

Steps

Participating in Traditions

  1. Learn about religious traditions. Whether or not you share your parents' and grandparents' religion, studying it can help you understand their culture. Religion connects to language, history, and personal behavior. Becoming more familiar with your or your family's religion can help you understand all these other aspects.[1]
    • Sacred texts and ceremonies can seem confusing with no one there to guide you. Find an expert willing to explain their significance. Read a copy of the text with footnote discussions.
  2. Learn-Any-Language. If you know someone who shares you culture but has a different native tongue than yourself, ask him to teach you. Many linguists and anthropologists argue that language shapes our whole perception of the world. Plus, if the language is rare in your area, nobody will be able to eavesdrop on your conversations!
    • Thousands of languages are at risk of extinction.[2] If you know one of them, teach it to others. Share examples of the knowledge and perspective that would be lost if it goes away. Record the language spoken and written (if possible), and work on translations to less endangered languages.
  3. Cook family recipes. It's never too late to whip up some recipes from your grandmother's cookbook. Smell and taste have powerful connections to memory.[3] As you knead dough or try to guess the right amount of spices, you might remember meals from you childhood or holidays. Just reading a recipe can teach you how much ingredients and kitchen tools have changed. And even if some of them are unfamiliar, others have most likely become your comfort food or a source of family pride.
    • If you don't have family recipes, look for old cookbooks online or at flea markets.[4] You could even start your own by writing down recipes shared orally by your relatives.
  4. Share your culture's art and technology. Each culture has its own clothing, music, visual art, storytelling traditions, an many more unique characteristics. Other members of your culture will be overjoyed to teach or talk about their hobbies, their jobs, their crafts, and what they do for fun. This includes traditional artwork you would find in a museum, but material culture goes far beyond that. Even a kitchen spoon or a piece of software is a cultural artifact.
    • People with less sophisticated technology are often considered ignorant or less intelligent. This is completely wrong. Culture passes on tools adapted to a particular environment, and every tool has generations of thinking behind it.[5] Shaping a stone tool is one of the oldest cultural practices there is, and it still takes great skill and knowledge.
  5. Spend time with other members of the community. The best way to preserve your culture is to keep it alive. Gather as a group not just for holidays, but for ordinary meals, events, or just conversation. Many aspects of culture are difficult to learn in books and museums, including etiquette, body language, and humor.
    • Think about the types of conversations you have within your culture, compared to the mainstream culture where you live. (Or compare two different cultures you participate in.) Does one feel more energetic or friendly than another? Would a normal statement in one context be considered rude in another? Why do you think that is? This kind of deep analysis can be tough to figure out, but it gets to the core of the cultural experience.
  6. Attend or organize major events. Your country, tribe, religious denomination, or immigrant ethnic group almost certainly celebrate major holidays or cultural festivals. Travel to these to get a broader perspective on your culture. If you don't know of any groups in your area, organize your own event.

Recording Your Culture

  1. Choose a focus. You can record anything you've discovered through your research and life, no matter how small it seems. What you can't do is write down everything there is to know about a culture. There's just too much to say. Most people choose one of two directions instead:
    • A personal history of one's own experience, or a family's.
    • A detailed look at one aspect of the culture: cooking, jokes, or any other subtopic.
  2. Decide on a medium. You can use calligraphy, oral storytelling, or another traditional medium to make the recording a personal cultural experience as well. Or you can put your work on a website, DVD, or another digital form. This lets you share your cultural story with people from all around the world.
  3. Interview-a-Relative. Interview the people whose histories you're telling, or experts in the subject you're writing about. Come prepared with a list of questions, but let the interviewee to wander to other topics and stories.[6] You may learn something you would never think to ask about.
    • Keep each interview within one or two hours. If the interviewee is willing, return to conduct additional interviews. This lets you prepare more questions, and lets the interviewee search for documents or objects she wants to share.
    • Use a video or audio recorder if the interviewee agrees to it. These are much more accurate than trying to write everything down or hold it in your head.
  4. Trace-Your-Family-Tree. Record your family tree with the help of family members, adding to it as you go along. There are probably whole branches of cousins and in-laws you've never met. Track these down through family connections or online searches, and they may offer whole new perspectives on your culture. Government websites and physical record collections may offer additional information dating back centuries.[7]
    • Ask family for scrapbooks, journals, and other records early on. You may discover that someone else has started the work for you.[8]
  5. Use your records to fight for your culture. Minority cultures often struggle to pass on cultural traditions. Share your stories and records with young people in your culture, who may not know the riches of their cultural background. In the face of political struggles or social challenges, organize people to participate in discussions and cultural activities. Your research can help people understand the core values of their culture, and inspire them to keep it alive and thriving.
  6. Accept change. The dialogue around passing on culture often sounds defeatist. Cultures are "endangered" or need "preserving" before they die out. Real challenges and threats do exist, but don't assume that all change is bad. Culture helps people adapt to the world around them. The world has always been changing, cultures have always been adapting, and it's up to you to choose a direction you can be proud of.[9]

Tips

  • Almost everyone participates in more than one culture. Be proud of your blend of ideas and behaviors.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.studyreligion.org/study/undergrads.html
  2. ↑ http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140606-why-we-must-save-dying-languages
  3. ↑ http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120312-why-can-smells-unlock-memories
  4. ↑ http://www.genealogytoday.com/articles/reader.mv?ID=964
  5. ↑ http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/intrigue/996
  6. ↑ https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Oral_Personal_History
  7. ↑ http://www.archives.gov/research/genealogy/start-research/
  8. ↑ http://www.findmypast.com/content/10-tips-to-start-your-family-history-journey
  9. ↑ http://cec.vcn.bc.ca/cmp/modules/emp-pre.htm
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