SACRED MOUNTAINS, RELIGIOUS PARADIGMS, AND IDENTITY AMONG THE MESCALERO APACHE

2000 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 264-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Ball
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Sacred Space ◽  
Religious Tradition ◽  
Spiritual Power ◽  
Spiritual Ecology ◽  
Religious System ◽  
Mescalero Apache

AbstractThis article carefully examines the roles that sacred mountains play in Mescalero Apache religious tradition and ''religious paradigms'' of sacred space and ceremonial practice. For the Mescalero, sacred mountains are intimately associated with conceptions of spiritual ecology, ceremonial traditions, prayer, and cultural identity. To understand these aspects of Mescalero tradition as they relate to cultural practices, this article focuses on the Mescalero Apache Mountain Spirit tradition. In this tradition men are masked, painted as ''Mountain Spirits'' and are understood to embody the power of the sacred mountains, the four cardinal directions, and the power of the Creator. Through analyzing this ceremonial tradition, Mescalero conceptions of how spiritual power is linked to sacred geographies and spiritual ecology is brought to light. The Mountain Spirits are also analyzed for how, through oral tradition and spiritual revelation, mountains become significant for the Mescalero within their religious system. The Mountain Spirits and their connections to sacred mountains are furthermore contrasted with the female initiation ceremony of the ''Big Tipi.'' It is proposed in this paper that these two ceremonial traditions, through their different relationships to the land and sacred geographies, feature differently in Mescalero self-conceptions of their cultural and religious identity.

ICT Differences in Islamic Education

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn Hardaker
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Islamic Education ◽  
Islamic Schools ◽  
Inclusive Approach ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Islamic Faith ◽  
Defined Culture

The aim of this paper is to explore the ICT differences in access and use by Muslim in Islamic faith schools, and ICTs’ perceived influence on learning. Our research explores ICT differences in the context of Muslim learners and it is distinctive in adopting the premise that there is a unity in Muslim cultural identity that increasingly transcends ethnicity and gender. As a proxy for our research, we use an Islamic understanding of cultural identity. We defined culture as the deeper level of basic assumptions and beliefs that are shared, operate unconsciously , and that define, in an intuitive way, our selves and the environment. This shares an affinity with an Islamic understanding of humanity and the environment, which is represented by three interrelated dimensions of Fitrah (human nature), khilāfah (vicegerent) and Dīn (religion). These dimensions demonstrate that the teachings of the Qur’ān are integral to cultural and religious identity. It is suggested that the impetus for learning is based on the realisation that pedagogy requires an appreciation by pupils that knowledge is derived from a teacher and experiences. The realisation is of particular importance in the field of Islamic education. The concept of revealed and acquired knowledge being equally accepted in Islamic schools for teaching and learning and this shapes, in turn, cultural identity that may influence ICT difference in access and use. This paper provides an overview of the characteristic features of ICT access, use and difference in the context of Islamic schools. We conclude with some tentative suggestions to support an inclusive approach towards ICT provision.

Oral Literature and Transculturality: A Study of Contemporary Cameroonian Songs

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-64
Author(s):  
Anne Obono Essomba
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Culture Shock ◽  
Oral Literature ◽  
Universal Values ◽  
Hybrid Product ◽  
The Way

Globalization led by Europe has spread so-called 'universal' values across the globe, which seems to have cultural intermingling as its backdrop. All human endeavors are based on a culture that has become multidimensional. All the time, in their diversity, cultures try to complement and absorb each other. However, in this meeting of cultural giving and receiving, it takes on a new face, the culture shock.  This encounter causes major changes in our modern societies, giving way to a loss of cultural identity and internal imbalance. This article aims to analyze the way in which contemporary Cameroonian musicians use cultural and linguistic facts for communication purposes and other arguments. The aim of our work is to show how the various songwriters have found, through song, a new mode of resistance so that African traditions escape sedimentation. In this way, they reconcile the elements of oral tradition and the contributions of modernity to create a hybrid product. To illustrate our point, we have chosen oral texts from different regions of Cameroon.  In order to better understand the transcultural reality in the texts, we will highlight the marks of traditional and modern aesthetics, then show that the transcultural is seen as a space of symbiosis between the traditional and the modern.

scholarly journals The Border-Crossing Women

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-77
Author(s):  
Suryaningsi Mila
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Border Crossing ◽  
Cultural Hybridity ◽  
Christian Women ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Kinship Ties ◽  
The Village

This paper examines the application of cross-textual reading on the story of women around Moses in the Qur'an and the Bible by grassroots Muslim and Christian women in the village of Wendewa Utara, Central Sumba. Due to the involvement of women, then I apply the feminist approach to analyze the dynamics of cross-textual reading. During several focus group discussions, cross-textual reading was run smoothly because the participants are bound by kinship ties. They are also rooted in Sumbanese cultural values that reflect Marapu religious values. In other words, Muslim and Christian women are living in a context of socio-religious-cultural hybridity in which their religious identity intermingles with their cultural identity. For this reason, this paper describes a project bringing these women into another space of dialogue through cross-textual reading. In the cross-textual reading, both grassroots Muslim and Christian women are crossing their religious borders by finding resonant commonalities between the two texts, as they explore the affirmative, enriched, and irreconcilable difference as well. Cross-textual reading is a new adventure for both Muslim and Christian women in Wendewa Utara.  The participants were enthusiastic because the material readings encourage them to share their problems, joys, hopes, and dreams. By reflecting on the struggle of women around Moses, the participants are committed to supporting one another in their daily life. Accordingly, this model of reading creates a safe space for grassroots Muslim and Christian women to learn from one another for mutual enrichment.  

scholarly journals Χορευτική-μουσική ταυτότητα και ετερότητα

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Χρήστος Παπακώστας
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Professional Activity ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Theory Of Practice ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Positive Perspective ◽  
The Times ◽  
Dynamic Quality

The present dissertation aims at studying dancing and music and the relationship between these two forms of culture in the construction of the cultural identity of the Roma in Heracleia of the Prefecture of Serres. Nowadays, Heracleia is a town with 4,000 residents. Its population has a mixed ethnological composition: Vlachs, natives (Greek speakers, and Slavic speakers), refugees, Sarakachans, Roma and Gypsies. In the past Heracleia was known as Tzumaya and was flourishing both financially and culturally thanks to its geographical position in the times of the Ottoman Empire and thanks to its famous bazaar. Thus, for a more complete understanding of the changes and transitions that took place it is significant to embody history as a new fundamental framework of interpretation. An important research tool for the accentuation of the principal arguments of thedissertation is the space. In this specific experiential paradigm the construction of identities and the distinction between the ethnic groups is also reflected on the organization of space. The neighborhood, the space of the Roma(sedentary gypsies), is juxtaposed to the respective neighborhood of the Vlachs, the market. Thus, the space is not only examined a “geography” but as a historical and dynamic category connected and interacting with culture. The dynamic quality of dancing and music, the ethnic mosaic and the history of Heracleia and the neighboring area as well as the continuous mobility of the Roma musicians invites us to investigate if there is actually a total isomorphism of space and culture. Music and dancing are not seen as static and fixed cultural phenomena but as historical, dynamic and fluid categories that are the object of negotiation of collective identities and variants. Dancing and music are simultaneously products and processes and do not merely reflect the social structures but are closely related to the cultural identity of a group. For the transgression of the dichotomy structure/action we adopt the theory of practice (Bourdieu 1977). In this way, dancing and music become cultural practices, by which the Roma of Heracleia handle their cultural identity in any historical conditions. Especially in the case of the Roma, this approach is even more helpful, because, as a social group with a low social status, within music and dancing they are given the chance to re-determine their identity in relation to the others. That is to say that by applying various practices of resistance, acquiescence, conflict and acceptance, they attempt to give a positive perspective to their cultural identity. In the framework of this dissertation the dancing phenomenon in the neighbourhood of the Roma and the music, as a prominent form of their professional activity, are examined.

Dedes in Dersim: Narratives of Violence and Persecution

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annika Törne
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Eastern Anatolia ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
Autobiographical Memories ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Trace Back ◽  
Coping Patterns

AbstractThe article is the result of an empirical research project that integrates historical, sociological and socio-psychological perspectives. The study is focused on the institution of religious leaders—dedes, the experts of oral tradition in Dersim, Eastern Anatolia. It attempts to trace back political obliteration strategies applied to these main agents of memory, by investigating their meaning and role for the maintenance of cultural identity. It analyses autobiographical memories of violence and persecution in narratives of dedes, especially in regard to their coping patterns and perceptions of history.

scholarly journals GERAKAN MASYARAKAT ADAT SAMI DAN KONTESTASI SUMBER DAYA ALAM

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 125
Author(s):  
Manggala Ismanto
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Minority Communities ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Indigenous Movement ◽  
The Right

The main agenda of the indigenous movement is fighting for political and cultural rights of ethnic minority communities in accordance with unique historical and cultural practices that they have. As Kymlicka said, minority rights must also be fought because they are on a system that is governed by the majority who pretend to produce injustice. Sami Indigenous Movement in Norway is a form of a long struggle to obtain the right independently to manage natural resources. Currently Sami struggling to maintain the uniqueness of the cultural identity and living practices that have been owned for generations. This paper would like to see the establishment of indigenous peoples' movement Sami in Norway as well as the practice of social movements committed to demanding social change related to self-governance and autonomy of management of natural resources.Keywords: Indigenous Movement, Sami People, Identity,  Otonomy,Natural Resource ManagementAbstrakAgenda utama dalam gerakan adat atau indigenous movement adalah memperjuangkan hak politik dan budaya komunitas etnis yang menjadi minoritas sesuai dengan keunikan historis serta praktik budaya yang mereka miliki. Seperti yang dikatakan oleh Kymlicka, bahwa hak-hak minoritas juga harus diperjuangkan karena mereka berada pada sistem yang diatur oleh mayoritas yang berpretensi menghasilkan ketidakadilan. Gerakan Masyarakat Adat Sami di Norwegia merupakan bentuk perjuangan panjang untuk memperoleh hak secara mandiri untuk mengelola sumber daya alam. Saat ini masyarakat Sami berjuang untuk mempertahankan keunikan identitas budaya dan praktik hidup yang telah dimiliki secara turun temurun. Tulisan ini ingin melihat pembentukan gerakan masyarakat adat Sami di Norwegia serta praktik gerakan sosial yang dilakukan untuk menuntut perubahan sosial terkait dengan self-governancedan otonomi pengelolaan sumber daya alam.Kata kunci: Gerakan Masyarakat Adat, Sami, Identitas, Otonomi, Pengelolaan Sumber DayaAlam 

scholarly journals La tradición oral de los indígenas Sumos: Características y temáticas

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 53
Author(s):  
Gilda Rosa Arguedas
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Ethnic Group ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Identidad Cultural ◽  
Los Grupos

Este artículo se ocupa de la tradición oral de los "Sumo" indios, uno de los grupos que habitan la costa atlántica de Honduras y Nicaragua, también conocido como "Mosquitia".Las historias analizadas (36) son principalmente narraciones aunque hay algunas descripciones y explicaciones. De acuerdo con el momento en el que se establece la narración, estas historias se clasifican en tres grupos: los mitos, leyendas y cuentos. Los temas de las historias son variadas, aunque los elementos míticos prevalecen. Mitos y leyendas parecen tener temas nativos, mientras que los cuentos revelan un origen extranjero.Los ejemplos de cada grupo de narraciones permiten apreciar la riqueza y variedad de la tradición oral de un grupo étnico que, a pesar de su pequeño tamaño y del enorme proceso de aculturación que ha sufrido, ha conseguido sorprendentemente mantener su identidad cultural. This article deals with the oral tradition of the "Sumo" indians, one of the groups which inhabits the Atlantic coast of Honduras and Nicaragua, also known as "Mosquitia."The stories analyzed (36) are mainly narrations although there are some descriptions and explanations. According to the time in which the narration is set, these stories are classified into three groups: myths, legends, and tales. The themes of the stories are varied though the mythic elements prevail. Myths and legends seem to have native themes, while the tales reveal a foreign origin.The examples from each group of narrations make it possible to appreciate the richness and variety of the oral tradition of an ethnic group that, in spite of its small size and of the enormous aculturation process it has undergone, has amazingly managed to keep its cultural identity. 

scholarly journals Attribution Des Noms Et Pratiques En Santé Materno-Infantile : Approche Socio-Anthropologique Des Enfants Sacrés En Pays Abouré Et Baoulé De Cote d’Ivoire

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 182
Author(s):  
Sylvie N’Goran ◽  
Maxime Oga
Keyword(s):  
Child Health ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Traditional Practices ◽  
Cultural Group ◽  
Survival And Development ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Pratiques En Santé

The birth of a child is considered as a joyous event and comes along with celebrations and festivities according to the tradition of each cultural group. The name given to the new-born may be that of a living grandparent, one of the parents, or a friend of the child’s father. However, the name given may also be related to the birth order. The birth of a child, who is a fragile and vulnerable being, gives rise to indispensable rituals that takes into account its rank. These rituals are not only for its survival and development, but also for its socialization and the transformation of its identity. Tradition also involves cultural identity through name assigning in order to protect the child from all kinds of diseases. Moreover, traditional practices regarding the issue of child health serves as forms of protection, humanization, and integration of the child into the society. What about the Aboure and N’Zipkly people? From a comprehensive perspective on the specificity of the names given from birth, this study aims to grasp the plausible influences on child health based on the relationships between the child and his name as perceived by the Abouré and N’Zipkly people. To achieve this, we asked ourselves the following questions: Why does a name has a significant influence on the health of the newborn? What is the relationship between child health and name? What are the socio-cultural practices of sacred children? Furthermore, there were various questions that led to data collection by observing activities and practices related to sacred children. The data collection was done using interview guides for mothers with children aged 0 to 5 years, grandparents, and traditional therapists.

scholarly journals Creating a cultural dialogue : reinforcing cultural identity on First Nations communities through the use of local materials and vernacular strategies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ksenia Eic
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Limited Government ◽  
The People ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
Cultural Dialogue ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Local Materials

The focus of this thesis/project is to reinforce the cultural identity of First Nations communities by incorporating local materials, vernacular strategies, and a collaborative effort into the design and build process. The Maliseet First Nations at Tobique, N.B., which will be used as a case study for this thesis/project, has experienced a deterioration of culture and community throughout the years. As oral tradition is fundamental to Maliseet culture, speaking the language, practicing techniques, and engaging with the community is vital in order to uphold the Maliseet people's cultural identity. However, these practices and values are fading in Aboriginal communities throughout the country. Isolated reserves such as Tobique also suffer from a lack of economic development and employment opportunities, causing residents to feel that they must fend for themselves rather than work collaboratively. Currently, almost all residential construction is contracted to outside developers, which use little to no band labour or resources. With limited government funding, houses constructed over the past few decades have generally been low in quality and constantly require repair, with many instances of severe mould damage. Learning from and incorporating vernacular strategies, techniques, and material use would offer appropriate responses to site and climate while reinforcing the Maliseet people's connection with their land and heritage. Engaging the entire community in the design and built process would pass on knowledge, techniques, and cultural values to the younger generation while strengthening the sense of community and cultural identity. An architectural approach which strives to enable a group of people through use of these strategies will promote self-sufficiency, engage the people in their culture and community, and open a cultural dialogue on the possibilities of design and its contribution to an evolving cultural identity.

scholarly journals The Influence of Bosnian Islam on the Identity of Slovenian Muslims

2019 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Urška Flisar
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Religious Practices ◽  
Population Census

The article focuses on the identity of Slovenian Muslims. The Population Census in Slovenia shows that the majority of Slovenian Muslims by ethnicity are defined as Bosniaks, Muslims or Bosnians. All three national classifications are defined by migrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina (B-H). In recent times, religion has had a significant influence on the formation of the identity of Muslims in both B-H and in Slovenia, characterized by nationalism and culture. The primary characteristic of the population of B-H is its heterogeneity. Thus, religious identity has always been evenly tied to its national and political identity. However, we must not ignore the fact that Bosnian Islam has always been different from Islam on other continents, which is especially evident in the local manners and ways of everyday life. The influence of religion is derived from the reality of religious practices that individuals have adapted to their cultural identity. In this discussion, we will attempt to identitfy those connections that relate to Slovene Islam in Muslim religious practice.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document